When conditions are tough, Matt Fitzpatrick rises to the occasion. Or so the story goes. That was the case on Thursday at Royal Troon, where the Englishman opened with a one-under 70 that placed him firmly in the mix at the British Open.
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It has been anything but the case on Friday, however. Fitzpatrick settled in with three straight pars on the gettable front nine. Two par 5s awaited on his next three holes, two prime opportunities to inch closer to the lead held by his playing partner Shane Lowry.
Instead, the former U.S. Open winner’s week went up in smoke, as he made a bogey 6 at the par-5 fourth, a par at the fifth, and then a double-bogey 7 at the par-5 sixth. Things did not get any better at the seventh, where Fitzpatrick’s tee shot found a fairway bunker, his ball coming to rest in a pot where it was nearly impossible to advance it forward.
After a few rehersals and a discussion with his caddie Billy Foster, Fitzpatrick realized his only option was to go out sideways, and not to the fairway. Fitzy had to purposely hit it into some knee-high fescue in what has to be one of the linksiest shots in links history:
The ultimate display of taking your medicine. This was his only option, as you’ll see he had no stance to go out sideways into the fairway. Brutal break.
Fitzpatrick did well to make a bogey on this hole, which dropped him to four over for the day and three over for the tournament. Things have only gotten worse for the 29-year-old since, too. He made his second 7 of the day, this time a triple bogey, at the par-4 11th. On top of that, the 11th hole is where Lowry had a disaster of his own, going 20-plus minutes between shots after getting into a messy rules situation. Fitzpatrick is famously one of, if not the, fastest players on the PGA Tour. Can’t imagine he’s going to be a very happy camper walking off 18 on Friday.
Adding insult to injury for Fitzpatrick: When he played at Troon in the 2016 Open, he got the worst of the weather during Friday’s second round, shooting an 80 after an opening-round 73 to miss the cut.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com