How tough are the greens at Shinnecock? How brutal are the putting surfaces that pushed the cutline to +8 at the 2018 U.S. Open and broke Phil Mickelson so badly he never really recovered? A host of multi-syllabic adjectives—flagellating, inhumane, sadistic—come to mind. Alex Fitzpatrick, however, won’t go quietly. In 2026, he’s fighting back with the power of modern technology … or something like that.
Some interesting prep from Alex Fitzpatrick to say the least 😅 pic.twitter.com/6EUqR3ePg0
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) June 16, 2026
Checking in on Alex Fitzpatrick: pic.twitter.com/KSzQzPHfqT
— Gabby Herzig (@GabbyHerzig) June 16, 2026
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Welcome to the future, folks. We may not have flying cars, but we do have a newly minted PGA Tour pro plugging into the matrix in a desparate attempt not to pound his six-foot par putts 15 yards off the green. Clearly, pros are throwing the kitchen sink at Golf’s Toughest Test™ this week, but Fitzpatrick is going one step farther—he’s wearing it.
How Fitzpatrick’s high-tech strategy conforms with the USGA’s enforcement of green books remains unclear. In 2022, the PGA Tour banned detailed topographical green books. As part of the same addendum, it also broadened the ban on “any device to test the conditions of the putting greens” to include practice greens, practice rounds and pro-ams. Considering all of that, what does Fitzpatrick have going on under the hood? Is he meditating to the sights and sounds of the rain forest? Is he kung-fu fighting Morpheus in a dojo? Is he stalking the streets of Gotham as Batman? We’ll just have to ask him and find out.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
