'I Always Played As Tiger Woods' - Matt Fitzpatrick On 'Pretty Special' Video Game Inclusion

Matt Fitzpatrick has shot to global fame after winning his maiden Major title at the 2022 US Open before starring in Netflix's Full Swing docuseries about life on the PGA Tour.

The Englishman is his country's top ranked player, currently at a career-best 7th in the world, and is flying high after recently making his third Ryder Cup appearance in Rome, where Luke Donald's Team Europe wrestled the cup back from the Americans.

Fitzpatrick has two PGA Tour victories to his name, including the US Open, as well as a further eight regular DP World Tour wins, with his most recent one coming at the Home of Golf in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews earlier this month.

The World No.7 is one of the star playable names on the PGA Tour 2K23 game as well as the likes of Tiger Woods, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson and many others.

Speaking to Golf Monthly at 2K's London headquarters, Fitzpatrick described being in a video game as "pretty special".

"It’s awesome, yeah growing up playing video games and to be in one myself is pretty special really. I think he'd [12-year-old Matt] be amazed. It’d be very bizarre but yeah I think growing up I always remember playing video games and thinking ‘It’d be amazing if you could be on the game’. You’d always create yourself yeah so to be on there is pretty cool."

The 29-year-old says he "always played as Tiger Woods" growing up and says his favorite course on the new game is one of Tiger Woods' own designs - Payne Valley - which he describes as "pretty wild". His best score so far is eight-under.

"It’s crazy the detail that goes into them and how it’s all formed. It’s very, very impressive," he said on the in-game courses.

And on video game golf vs real life golf, Fitzpatrick still thinks that the sport is tougher in real life.

"It’s great, playing good in real life is a bit better than in video games. It’s just a lot nicer. I don’t know about that [whether real life golf is easier]. I think if I get hot in the game I could probably regularly shoot under 64 so I can’t do that in real life."