{"id":692290,"date":"2026-06-08T21:25:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T21:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/692290\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T21:25:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T21:25:16","slug":"kind-of-without-my-driver-alex-fitzpatrick-overcomes-bag-problems-to-top-10-at-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/692290\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Kind of without my driver’: Alex Fitzpatrick overcomes bag problems to top 10 at Memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex Fitzpatrick is playing some of the best golf in the world right now. <\/p>\n

Want proof? With a damaged driver for 54-plus holes, Fitzpatrick managed to navigate Muirfield Village and find his way into the signature event field\u2019s top 10 thanks in large part to a 7-under 65 in Sunday\u2019s final round.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Fitzpatrick\u2019s third top 10 in four PGA Tour starts since winning the Zurich Classic alongside his brother, Matt Fitzpatrick, <\/a>on April 26. All three finishes were in signature-event fields \u2014 T-9 at Doral\u2019s Blue Monster, a solo fourth at Quail Hollow and now T-6 at Jack\u2019s Place.<\/a><\/p>\n

Still though, Fitzpatrick gave himself zero chance to win when he started his final round. And that \u201cdefeated\u201d mindset started three days earlier at the 13th hole.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been playing kind of without my driver since the 13th hole on Thursday,\u201d Fitzpatrick told reporters. \u201cMy driver broke literally in the bag. Just kind of the shaft just snapped. So I had one, like, a backup, but it doesn\u2019t feel anything like the same. So there was a lot of 3-woods out there. But I played really nicely even though I didn\u2019t have a driver. So, yeah, didn\u2019t feel like I had a chance, but I kept hitting great shots and getting the rewards from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A clubhouse leader at the time of his press conference at 8 under, he did admit that \u201cyou never know with the closing holes.\u201d However, there was persistent mantra throughout the exchange: This is someone who is happy to be here. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a crazy year for me, so I\u2019m just trying to keep enjoying it,\u201d added Fitzpatrick, who missed out on the playoff between J.T. Poston and Ryan Gerard by four shots.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the $20 million purse was paid out at the PGA Tour\u2019s seventh signature event, the Memorial Tournament.<\/p>\n

When pressed about not being able to find a driver for his final three rounds, Fitzpatrick did reveal that he carries a backup head \u2014 not a shaft \u2014 \u201cto keep the bag light.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor when I travel so I don\u2019t get charged excess baggage,\u201d he said with a chuckle. \u201cBut that\u2019s because I\u2019m from Yorkshire. But yeah, I had a backup one sent to me and it just didn\u2019t feel the same, and at that point it was too late, so I just had to use what I had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next up for Fitzpatrick is his first career stop at the RBC Canadian Open<\/a>. He will follow that up with the U.S. Open at Shinnecock and the final signature event of the year \u2014 the Travelers Championship.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"koepka-rose-split-image.jpg\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A $9.8 million purse is at stake in Canada for U.S. Open winners Matt Fitzpatrick, Brooks Koepka and Justin Rose next week. Defending champion Ryan Fox looks for a repeat.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s four straight weeks for the 27-year-old Fitzpatrick who began 2026 on the DP World Tour.<\/p>\n

And if that wasn\u2019t enough? He\u2019s planning to become a homeowner, too, this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cPalm Beach, try and be close to my brother. That\u2019s my plan,\u201d Fitzpatrick said, adding that he\u2019s been living with Matt and out of a suitcase since the win in New Orleans seven weeks ago. \u201cI kind of looked at a few places when I spent a couple days in Florida, but didn\u2019t have enough time to find anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex Fitzpatrick is playing some of the best golf in the world right now. Want proof? With a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-692290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}