The opening line of the bio on Matthew Fitzpatrick’s official website may be a bit rich for some: it reads, ‘Matt is simply one of the hottest golfing properties in the world today.’ It’s clear that the golfer, who hails from Sheffield, got into golf to make history and not friends. Indeed, this introductory sentence quickly backs that up by reminding those that have stumbled upon the site that he’s won five European Tour events while still being in the relatively early stages of his career.
No one can argue that it hasn’t been an incredibly promising start with regard to his individual performances, but the time has now come for Fitzpatrick to deliver in golf’s greatest team competition: a whole different kettle of fish.
As it stands, the Ryder Cup odds available at Betfair currently price America as the favourites to reclaim the cup at Whistling Straits with odds of 8/15. Meanwhile, Europe are priced at 15/8 odds to take the cup and a tie is probable at 11/1 odds. From the latest Ryder Cup betting tips to a conversation with the man on the street, everyone is expecting America to blow Europe away in Wisconsin. As previously mentioned, Fitzpatrick will have to be at his very best in the heart of this European side, which is something that he hasn’t necessarily been able to do in the past.
Indeed, it was back in 2016 when the Yorkshireman made his Ryder Cup debut in the United States only for the Americans to beat Europe by a commanding scoreline of 17-11. To add insult to injury, Fitzpatrick didn’t score a single point throughout the four days and was left out of the fourballs by captain Darren Clarke, with the Northern Irishman losing faith in the 21-year-old early on.
It was the proverbial baptism of fire, but that was then and this is now. In fact, since that disastrous weekend in Wisconsin, Fitzpatrick has won five times on the European Tour which included back-to-back wins at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland.
That winning moment. #oem2018 pic.twitter.com/gZ2wIMKmPX
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 9, 2018
With this in mind, you could probably argue that Fitzpatrick wasn’t quite ready for the rigours of the Ryder Cup in 2016, but has since come of age over the last five years. Nonetheless, no matter how mature one becomes or how well they adapt to playing in America on the PGA Tour, nothing compares to the atmosphere of a Ryder Cup and the intimidation that can be felt from those watching on. It can be downright hostile at times if you are a European with the tone set back in 1991 at Kiawah Island in what has been called the War on the Shore.
📸: 1991 Ryder Cup – The War By The Shore pic.twitter.com/SR0C2g376e
— Ryder Cup USA (@RyderCupUSA) September 17, 2018
Perhaps Golf Digest summed the cause of the crowd unrest up the best when they said that ‘patriotism had been running high and unchecked on the American team’ following the end of the Gulf War only months previously. Looking back, it was the perfect storm and painted the landscape in which the Ryder Cup is played today.
It goes without saying but Europe will desperately need their man from the Steel City to demonstrate his steeliness when the American crowd comes calling during the playing of the 43rd Ryder Cup.
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