Matthew Fitzpatrick on unlikely Open scenario?! "It would be my worst nightmare"

England's Matthew Fitzpatrick says it would be 'a nightmare' if he had to battle his younger brother Alex for the Claret Jug at the 151st Open Championship.

Ben Smith

17 Jul 2023

Matthew Fitzpatrick on unlikely Open scenario?! "It would be my worst nightmare" — Matthew Fitzpatrick on unlikely Open scenario?! "It would be my worst…

Matthew Fitzpatrick says it would 'be my worst nightmare' if the unlikely scenario of battling his brother for the Claret Jug at the 151st Open Championship was to materialise.

Fitzpatrick and his younger brother Alex, 24, will be teeing it up at the final men's major of the year at Royal Liverpool.

The elder Fitzpatrick, 28, told a news conference on 17 July that he was playing golf in New Jersey and couldn't put his phone down as his brother Alex was battling hard to make it through final Open qualifying.

Alex, who made his PGA Tour debut at the 2022 Valspar Championship after reportedly turning down a $2m LIV Golf offer, holed out an insane bunker shot to secure his place at Hoylake.

Matt said: "I was just refreshing the scores constantly. It was taking a while to update. My girlfriend was just literally like, put it down. It'll load in a minute. I was just constantly refreshing, texting my mum, what's he doing, where is he hitting it. I was so happy for him."

Matt said he was tempted to get in touch with Francesco Molinari to ask about the dynamic he shares with Edoardo when they're playing in the same tournaments.

He said:

"People ask, what would you do if you were in the final group on Sunday, and I said, well, that would be kind of my worst nightmare, to be honest.

"Yeah, it's an exciting week, and I'm just so pleased for him. I think it's great, gives him a good boost of confidence qualifying, and there's no reason why he can't do well this week.

"It's a golf course in 2006 that required really good accuracy off the tee and great iron play. He can definitely do that."

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Matthew Fitzpatrick on unlikely Open scenario?!

Fitzpatrick also refused to be drawn into answering a question about whether or not the PGA Tour's deal with LIV Golf's backers had affected his preparations heading into this Open.

He was previously supportive of lifetime bans for the 'rebel' players. His stance may have softened now.

"I know as much as everyone else in this room," he said. "That's all I can say."

Despite suggesting it would be his 'worst nightmare' to face his brother, Matt didn't appear to believe he can be too much of a factor this week.