HILTON HEAD, SC—On Sunday, April 9, Matt Fitzpatrick prevailed in a playoff to win after he and Jordan Spieth both finished on -17.
Both men pared the first two playoff holes despite Spieth’s approach play giving him a good chance of making birdie. Spieth said after the round, “I don’t know how the one on the first playoff hole didn’t go in…I think if I hit the same putt 10 times, it goes in eight times. It should go left at the very end there on the grain. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
Fitzpatrick hit his approach on 18 to within a foot of the cup to win with a tap in birdie. He was surprised by Spieth’s near misses stating:
“In the playoff, I felt every putt [Spieth] hit was going to go in.”
The Sheffield man is the first English man to win the event since Nick Faldo in 1984. It is his first regular event victory on the PGA after he won the 2022 U.S. Open. Fitzpatrick will take home the $3.6 million first prize. This is more than double of last year’s prize money for the victor.
Jon Rahm finished 15th place with a score of -3. He is the first Masters winner to play the following week after the event since 2015.
Spieth now had 5 top 10 finishes in 2023. The PGA Championship is the only major he has failed to win to date in his career. The event takes place in Oak Hill Country Club in New York next month.
