Matt Fitzpatrick fell agonisingly short at the PGA Championship after a three-over-par final round left him two shots adrift of a playoff - ultimately won by Justin Thomas.
Whilst it wasn't quite to be for the Yorkshireman at Southern Hills, he is enjoying his best PGA Tour season to date with six top-10 finishes in 12 events so far; including a second place finish at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Of course, the 27-year-old continues to impress with his golfing talent. He is an incredibly consistent ball striker with a deadly, albeit unorthodox, short game and possesses a putting stroke that performs under the most intense pressure. As impressive as that may be, there is another area which sets the Englishman aside from the rest.
As revealed by Dan Rapaport, good friend of Fitzpatrick and writer at Golf Digest, Fitzpatrick takes comprehensive notes after each shot and has continued with this technique since he was 15-years-old.
For example, Fitzpatrick may find himself 165 yards from the hole with an 8 iron in hand but he actually wants to land the ball 161 yards and 8 yards left of the flag. In the event he lands the ball exactly 165 yards and directly in the hole, he'll chart that as a 4 yard miss on distance and 8 yards on direction.
In Fitzpatrick's eyes, this gives him a more accurate data set than ShotLink because he's actually measuring against his target and not where the hole is. As a result, he has a comprehensive database of thousands of shots that has hit throughout his golfing life, including practice and social rounds, that include details of the lie, the type of grass and even wind strength and direction.
This technique has contributed to Fitzpatrick's continued ascent up the Official World Golf Ranking as he now sits at a career-best No.15. The Englishman is without a win on the PGA Tour but has seven DP World Tour victories to his name; including two season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai titles. The 2022 PGA Championship was his best result in a Major having previously finished T7 at Augusta National in 2016.
land it 161, 8 yards left of the flag. If he hits it 165 and it lands in the hole, he'll chart that as a 4 yard miss on distance and 8 yards on line. This gives him way more accurate data than ShotLink because he's measuring vs his target, not where the hole is. So he now has a..May 22, 2022
of the guys he plays against, so he leaves zero stone unturned in pursuit of a slight advantage. And then he'll search for another stone. So disciplined, takes his career so seriously.May 22, 2022
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