England’s Matt Fitzpatrick captured his first career major championship on Sunday, winning the 2022 U.S. Open at Brookline. The 27-year-old Fitzpatrick is the first Englishman to win the U.S. Open since Justin Rose in 2013, finishing the tournament -6, and winning the U.S. Open by one stroke. Fitzpatrick joins Jack Nicklaus as the only two players to win the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open titles on the same course. Nicklaus accomplished the feat at Pebble Beach in 1972.
Fitzpatrick shot a 68 in the final round, outlasting Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris. Fitzpatrick and Zalatoris were deadlocked at the top of the leader board to enter the final round Sunday. Zalatoris and Scheffler both finished -5, a stroke behind leader Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick nailed a 50-foot birdie-putt on 13, followed by a clutch 20-footer at 15, and on the 18th, Fitzpatrick made a shot from the bunker to the green to win the 122nd US Open title.
Fitzpatrick told reporters after clinching the championship: “The feeling’s out of this world. It is so cliche, but it’s stuff you dream of as a kid. To achieve it, I can retire a happy man tomorrow.”
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