It’s not every day that a LIV golfer gets pitted against a PGA Tour golfer in front of thousands of roaring fans, with Ryder Cup pride, and egos on the line. But that’s exactly what unfolded when Bryson DeChambeau faced off against Matt Fitzpatrick in a singles clash on Sunday. And now, Fitzpatrick has broken his silence on what it was really like to go toe-to-toe with one of golf’s most polarizing figures.
Speaking at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Wednesday, the Englishman peeled back the curtain on his showdown with the LIV Golf powerhouse. “He was fine. Bryson’s character, he’s got a lot of energy,” Fitzpatrick began. “You get in that environment with the home crowd — I think it was very helpful to get off to a great start. To be up so early was helpful at that point just to keep the crowd not really on his side as such. It was kind of much more tame. But no issues with Bryson. I knew what he was about, and that’s what excites the fans over there, and that’s great,” he continued.
For all the talk of DeChambeau’s on-course antics, Fitzpatrick wasn’t rattled. “There were no issues. It was obviously a good match. I wish it ended a little bit differently, but in the end, it was a half-point,” Fitzpatrick confessed. And it really could’ve been so much more. Fitzpatrick came flying out of the gates, going 5 up through the first 7 holes, but DeChambeau flipped the script.
He won the 8th and 9th holes and then mounted a gritty late charge—taking three of the next four from the 14th to the 17th—to shockingly pull level heading up the 18th. A nervy final hole saw both players miss their chance to clinch it, with the match ending all square. It wasn’t the result Fitzpatrick had hoped for, but it was undeniably a tough fight.
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