US Open 2022 – Round-Up

Matt Fitzpatrick was crowned US Open 2022 champion in an incredible finale that will go straight from the green from The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts to the big screen in Hollywood.

With a total of 274 shots and 6 under par, the 27-year-old Englishman won his first Major and PGA Tour title defeating Will Zalatoris, on the last hole. The American missed a putt on the 18th and handed the title to Fitzpatrick by a single shot (275, 5 under par). It’s Zalatoris’ second-place finish (sharing Scottie Scheffler) at one of the four Majors, having lost the Masters last year.

US Open 2022 Round-Up

Defending champion Jon Rahm had a bad day and hit a 74-shot card to finish 1-over-par in the championship. Sam Burns (+5), Cameron Smith (+6), Justin Thomas (+7), and Jordan Spieth (+6) also didn’t perform well over the weekend and fell far short of the front runners. Only 9 players were under the par of the field.

Fitzpatrick’s story is about to hit the movies. The 27-year-old had come to this field as an amateur, in 2013, and since his father did not have much faith in him, he stayed in Fulton’s house, a family that hosted him nine years ago. He was the champion of that contest and on this occasion, he repeated the story: he wrote to the family and asked them to host him again. In the end, he celebrated with them and is the first non-American player to achieve these two titles.

This story is like that of local Francis Ouimet, who in 1913, at the age of 20, and as a caddy, won the US Open as an amateur golfer on this very course. This feat was made into a movie by Disney many years later, and it is impossible not to remember it at this time.

Returning to the recent event, this Sunday was an exciting day for all the lovers of this sport, in a very critical moment for the PGA Tour after the emergence of the Liv Tour and the millions of Saudis, which threatens to take away several of the best players on the circuit.

The Champion’s run

Fitzpatrick had good shots on the 5th and 8th holes, making some birdies despite the wind. These were precisely the holes in which Scheffler failed after a phenomenal start with 3 birdies in the first 4 holes. Despite a good Sunday, he was unable to make up lost ground after a bad Saturday, falling one shot behind the champion.

The fight between Fitzpatrick and Zalatoris was epic. In the 11th, the North American took the lead with a birdie, but in the 13th the European tied him incredibly and took a 2-stroke lead in the 15th. At the end of the 18th, Zalatoris was within millimeters of forcing a tie break, but his shot was a bit wide and he had to settle for second place and his sixth top ten in 9 Majors.

For this edition the US Open amounted to a purse of 20 million dollars, being a record for the PGA Tour. This, in part, is due to the money that the Saudis are paying, a figure that is still well above what the golf world was used to seeing.

After this exciting tournament, now the sights are set on The Open Championship, which will be played from July 14 to 17 at the Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland, and which will have Fitzpatrick as one more entertainer of the tournament and the American Collin Morikawa (fifth at the US Open) as defending champion.