PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Matt Fitzpatrick fell one shot short of a chance to win the Players Championship. Seven days later, his final putt made him the Valspar Championship champion. This seems to bode well for him as the Masters is coming up next.
“Yeah, I’d probably win,” Fitzpatrick said.
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No need for a sarcasm.
Judging from recent experience, Fitzpatrick’s form has been fleeting in this fickle game, and the 2022 U.S. Open champion in Brooklyn doesn’t have the best record at Augusta National. A tie for seventh in 2016 was his best performance in 10 career starts.
But there’s something to be said for turning to Magnolia Lane during the first full week of April.
Five of the past six Masters champions have multiple wins heading into the year’s first major. Hideki Matsuyama in 2021 is an exception.
Scottie Scheffler in 2022 and Jon Rahm in 2023 each had three wins in the months before winning their first green jackets. Scheffler also won Bay Hill and The Players Championship in 2024, when he won the Masters for the second time. He won a lot that year.
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Before Rory McIlroy achieved greatness last year, he won at both Pebble Beach and The Players Championship. In 2020, with the Masters moved to November due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was easy to overlook Dustin Johnson. Not only did he win twice that year, he didn’t finish outside the top six in the six events leading up to the Masters.
So there’s something to be said for form. That’s why it’s hard to ignore what Bryson DeChambeau has been doing over the past two weeks on the other side of the world.
DeChambeau birdied the final hole in Singapore before winning in a playoff. A week later, he pared the final hole and beat Jon Rahm with a 3-wood from nearly 300 yards in the rough to 12 feet in the wet to win a playoff.
His U.S. Open title is enough to garner attention, but so are some of his shots.
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“The great guys that can do things, you just scratch your head,” Paul Casey said Sunday. “You have a roster, Tiger … he’s going to be successful, and you’re like, ‘I know the game, I can make a lot of great shots, but I can’t.'”
“The 3-wood on 18,” he said of DeChambeau’s shot, “I couldn’t do it. I’m not sure there’s anyone else on the course who could hit that shot, or maybe there’s anyone else on the planet who could hit that shot.”
Scheffler won his first start of 2026 in the California desert, turning a tense final round into another rout. He does this often. Scheffler had to withdraw from the Houston Open on Tuesday as his wife prepares for the birth of their second child. He’ll head to Augusta National with his third consecutive top-10 finish.
Reason for calling the police?
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It’s reminiscent of 2001, when Tiger Woods went six consecutive tournaments without a win – his worst finish was a tie for 13th – and there were rumors his form was slipping. He went on to win the Bay Hill Tournament, The Players Championship and the Masters to complete the Tiger Slam.
Fitzpatrick knows what a recession looks like. A year ago, he was ranked around 70th in the world, missed the opportunity to advance, and has never participated in the competition. He changed his team — a new caddy, a new swing coach — and slowly worked his way back to where he felt he belonged.
A runner-up finish to Cameron Young at TPC Sawgrass and a win at Innsbruck lifted the Briton to sixth in the world rankings. How long ago did it feel like a year ago now?
“About five minutes ago,” Fitzpatrick said, laughing. “It was tough this time last year. I didn’t really know what to expect. It was tough. That’s why I hated the game, but I loved the game. That’s why I always tell people I prefer football to golf.
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“It was a frustrating match, but we keep coming back because of moments like the last one today,” he said of his 15-foot birdie putt to win.
Also of note in the weeks leading up to Augusta National are a pair of newcomers.
Chris Gotterup is only the third player since World War II to win four times before playing in the Masters. Two of those wins came this year. He had the power and touch of Augusta National, just didn’t have the record (John Daly had extreme power and touch, but never really came close to winning).
Jacob Bridgeman is under the spotlight as another Masters newcomer, especially for how comfortable the 26-year-old looked in his first win at Riviera and how he quietly emerged at the Players Championship. He hasn’t finished outside the top 20 in eight races this year.
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Young, fresh off a victory at The Players Championship, was joined; former Masters champion Patrick Reed, who won twice in the Middle East after leaving LIV Golf; Rahm won in Hong Kong; and Justin Rose won at Torrey Pines.
There’s a long list of players who have hit form at the right time. It doesn’t hurt to win.
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On The Fringe breaks down the hottest topics in golf this season. More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
