Matt Fitzpatrick assesses if he’s playing the best golf of his career as he contends at the Scottish Open
Matt Fitzpatrick is making a strong case for being the best golfer in 2026.
Tied with Chris Gotterup, he has the most wins on the PGA Tour this year with three, including a playoff win against Scottie Scheffler at the RBC Heritage.
He’s risen from 22nd in the Official World Golf Rankings to fourth, and he could well climb even higher as he contends for the win at the Scottish Open. He’s one shot back of the leading group, which features Rory McIlroy, at The Renaissance Club.
All that’s missing from the season is a major championship, as Fitzpatrick hopes to double his major tally at The Open Championship next week. But has this season been better for Fitzpatrick than the year he won the US Open? He has his verdict in Scotland.
Matt Fitzpatrick says he’s playing the best golf of his career
When Fitzpatrick won the US Open, it was his only win of the season. And going into this year, it was one of only two PGA Tour wins in his career. He’s now increased that tally to five, after playing what he said has been the best golf of his career so far.
Speaking after his second round at the Scottish Open, where he shot a 65 to get in contention, Fitzpatrick said, “This stretch of sort of March, February onwards to now, it’s definitely the best golf I’ve played in my career for sure.”
The numbers back that up, just. According to Data Golf’s evaluation, this year from Fitzpatrick is the 218th best of any player since 1983. Meanwhile, his 2022 season, when he won the US Open, is ranked 219th-best. So this is his best season to date. Just.
His Strokes Gained numbers say that this is by far the best Fitzpatrick has ever played with his irons, and it’s by far the best he’s played around the greens. Shockingly, though, this is the worst putting season that Fitzpatrick has had in his entire career. Imagine if he made some putts!
Combine all that with winning the RBC Heritage, an event that means so much to the Sheffield-born star, and winning the Zurich Classic alongside his brother to earn him a PGA Tour card, and this season could end up being the best of Fitzpatrick’s career.
