It was on the chipping green at Hallamshire Golf Club in Sheffield where the magic first started.
The days playing “21” with his buddies were as much about fun and excitement for Alex Fitzpatrick — brother of 2022 U.S. Open winner, Matt — as plotting a way toward becoming a professional golfer.
The rules were simple: First to 21. Two points for a win, one point for a second, three points for a chip-in.
The route to the hole, however, was complex. On the to-do list was a flop shot over the head (kids, don’t try this at home), a one-handed chip, a one-legged chip, and then, perhaps toughest of all, a shot from on the knees.
It’s ironic then — for a player who recently put more discipline into his practice regime as opposed to “just hitting balls” — that a trick shot, perfected when he was still at school, should come to save him when it mattered the most.
At West Lancashire Golf Club there Fitzpatrick kneeled, choking down on a sand wedge as he holed out from the bunker on the way to qualifying for his first major, The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool this week.
This kid’s short game is so good!!@FitzAlex99 pic.twitter.com/on3jyYoa1g
— Matt Fitzpatrick (@MattFitz94) July 4, 2023
What made it even sweeter was that on the 18th green, waiting to give him a firm pat on the back, was his close friend and former chipping green competitor, Barclay Brown, the early clubhouse leader in last year’s 150th Open at St Andrews.
“If there’s a reason why my short game is so good it’s because of all the battles I used to have with Barclay,” Fitzpatrick tells The Athletic.
“I’m the best at stupid shots for sure! We had a routine every weekend. We’d compete on the putting green, imagining that we were playing for each of the four majors. Then we’d chip for hours and hours as we waited for our parents to pick us up. The best part about it all was having fun.”
Alex is 24, four years younger than Matt, and has a positive, upbeat outlook on life.
He’s back living with his mum, Susan, and dad, Russell, in Sheffield this summer after turning professional in 2022 on the back of a four-year college career at Wake Forest University, North Carolina, in the U.S.
The aim is to progress from the Challenge Tour onto the DP World Tour next season.
A fourth-place finish at the Italian Open this month pushed him toward the coveted top 20 on the Road to Mallorca rankings and with 11 events remaining he knows it’s all in his own hands.
“My golf is starting to fall into place,” Fitzpatrick says. “I’m also learning to not get too down when I get a bogey.”
Matt, left, and Alex Fitzpatrick teamed up at the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic in April, earning a T19 finish. (Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
As he found out recently, “there are more important things in life” than a disappointing round.
It was on the back of a third-place finish at the B-NL Challenge Trophy when he received an uplifting message from Tony Watkins, a long-serving member at his home club who was well known for creating “comedy” reports to coincide with club competition results.
Watkins, who knew Alex and Matt as youngsters, wanted to congratulate the brothers on their success and signed off by explaining how excited he was for their future.
Yet two days later, another message arrived, this time from Watkins’ wife, saying he had passed away.
“It was just so sad,” Fitzpatrick says. “And there was me getting pissed off because I had made a couple of bogies earlier in the day. Developing the right mindset to move forward is really important.”
Perhaps that’s why there’s now a steely focus on improving but also enjoying each tournament.
He doesn’t follow the same data-driven approach that has seen his brother record information on each shot he has hit over the past 13 years.
Instead, Fitzpatrick identifies areas of weakness and looks to improve as and when required.
“I have a good structure in place now and people I trust to help support me,” he says.
With The Open to look forward to, it made sense to ditch last weekend’s Challenge Tour event in Austria and spend time closer to home.
As a large chunk of the field competed in the Scottish Open, Alex arrived on Merseyside early to warm up with some local links golf.
Mum and dad have confirmed they will follow him — ahead of Matt — around Hoylake and that’s given Alex an extra buzz.
“They’re so supportive and have watched my brother in thousands of tournaments. It’s hard for them with both of us playing this week,” Alex says. “But since I qualified, I’ve had to pinch myself a few times. I’ve felt for a while now I’ve been doing all the right things but not quite getting the rewards.
“Even in Italy (where he finished 16-under), I started on the first hole with an eagle on a par 5. I hit 2-iron, 7-iron, then pitched in with a 52-degree wedge on a course I’d never played before. I just said to myself, ‘What is happening?’
“Golf is a sport where your work might not pay off for a long, long time, but then it suddenly all falls into place.”
Not a bad time to find his groove, then?
Russell, Alex, Matt and Susan Fitzpatrick after Matt’s U.S. Open win at Brookline. (Warren Little / Getty Images)
In Liverpool where he lines up against the best in the world, at a course he knows “relatively well” having played his first Walker Cup there in 2019, there’s a chance for him to showcase his skills to a wider audience.
The Netflix documentary “Full Swing” has already gained him a large new following on social media as well as some surprise supporters in India.
“I was in Bangalore recently for a practice round and a couple of Indian kids asked for my signature. They said they had watched the show which I found so cool,” Fitzpatrick says. “Obviously I didn’t have a star role but I enjoyed being involved in the series.”
And season 2?
“I’ve been filmed a little,” he says, laughing. No spoilers here at The Athletic but Fitzpatrick may feature again. He hopes by then he’ll have a new chapter of his own to be proud of, starting with surprising a few people this week.
“It’s weird because I’ve sat in the stands at the majors and watched my brother do it,” Fitzpatrick says. “In qualifying, I was telling myself to think about the feeling at the end of the round when I could call everyone and say I had done it.
“Now it’s close and it feels a bit different. I can’t imagine how I will feel on the first tee just yet with so many people around. I won’t be doing an Ian Poulter (and encouraging an atmosphere), that’s for sure!”
Alex has struggled to respond to all the well wishes he has received in recent weeks, which have included messages from players at his beloved Sheffield United.
United return to the Premier League has only enhanced the feel-good factor in the Fitzpatrick household. The hope is that Russell, Matt and Alex can attend a few games next season if their schedules allow it.
“The thought of (Manchester City striker) Erling Haaland playing at Bramall Lane is pretty crazy,” Alex says. “I’m a bit concerned that we haven’t signed any players yet but Paul Pogba (he says, laughing) is available so he’ll do.
“As long as we keep Iliman Ndiaye then I’m sure we’ll have a chance.”
For now, the days ahead are all that matters.
Until recently, there were only two stand-out images that identified Alex to the rest of the wider golfing world.
The one when he caddied for Matt as he won the 2013 U.S. Amateur Championship at Brookline, and the other, at the same venue, where he bear-hugged his brother on the 18th green after winning the U.S. Open.
Now, though, Alex is starting to write his own script and move away from the “brother of Matt” tag.
His short game is stronger, and with a little fine-tuning elsewhere, there’s hope that not one, but two Fitzpatricks will soon be seen on leaderboards at events across the globe.
(Top photo: Valerio Pennicino / Getty Images)
