Matthew Fitzpatrick cracks underrated joke after first round of Zurich Classic

Matthew Fitzpatrick and his brother Alex started strongly at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on the PGA Tour.

Ben Smith's picture
Thu, 20 Apr 2023
Matthew Fitzpatrick cracks underrated joke after first round of Zurich Classic

Matthew Fitzpatrick joked his opening round at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside his younger brother Alex was the most fun he had in days after the duo raced out of the blocks. 

Last week Matthew captured his first 'regular' season PGA Tour title with a thrilling victory over Jordan Spieth in extra holes at Harbour Town Golf Links at the designated RBC Heritage

And he continued his good form alongside his younger brother Alex at TPC Louisiana, the pair combining to shoot a bogey-free 62 at the Pete Dye-designed course to share a tie for the lead. 

Matthew later told the media he hated the phrase 'ham and egg it' because he's English, but noted he 'dovetailed' with Alex extremely well. 

The U.S. Open champion said: 

"We did great. I played really solid on the front nine, he played great on the back nine, and he bailed me out a few times, which was obviously very beneficial, and yeah, it was a great day."

Alex added: 

"Yeah, he said it pretty spot on. I don't think he's giving himself enough credit for the front nine. I didn't play very well, so it was nice for him to make a few putts and give us a few birdies while I was scrambling around somewhere.
"And then yeah, I played nicely on the back nine and I managed to roll in some birdies, which was great, and we kept it together towards the end and finished with a nice score."

Matt joked: 

"It's as much fun as I've had on the golf course in, well, about four days, to be fair.
"No, it really is. It's just so different. We don't do this, obviously -- well, we've never done this, obviously. I think it's nice to play a bit of team golf. It's something different. I'm obviously not used to playing four-balls."

Elsehwere, Sungjae Im and Keith Mitchell combined to shoot the same score as the Fitzpatrick brothers and reach 10-under after 18 holes. 

David Lipsky and England's Aaron Rai are also tied for the lead. 

The defending champions of this team event are Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. They went wire-to-wire last year but started slowly on day one. 

This is the sixth year that the Zurich Classic of New Orleans is being played with the two-man team format, which was introduced in 2017.

It was cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic.

The teams play four-ball in the first and third rounds, and foursomes in the second and final rounds. 

Zurich Classic of New Orleans leaderboard

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