The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and Opinions2015 will be remembered as the year when Matthew Fitzpatrick made himself known to the golfing world. The young Englishman has exceeded expectations this year to push himself into the top 50 in the rankings. Fitzpatrick now has an outside chance of being included in Europe’s Ryder Cup side next year and is now regarded in one of the best young players in Europe.
Fitzpatrick started the year ranked outside the top 300 in the world rankings but a series of impressive performances have seen him fly up the list. He started 2015 in impressive fashion, finishing in fifth place in The South African Open. After a series of missed cuts he returned to form with a top ten finish at The Irish Open, before finishing third in The Lyoness Open.
He came second at The European Masters, a performance which left him ranked just outside the top 100. After finishing third at The Czech Masters, he secured his first victory as a professional, winning The British Masters. Since then, Fitzpatrick has not missed the cut in any of the five events he has played in, finishing in the top twenty of four of them.
He finished third at The Hong Kong Open and then put in a strong performance at The BMW Masters, finishing tied for thirteenth. This run of form left Fitzpatrick inside the top fifty in the rankings, above the likes of Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald.
With 2015 being a poor year for the Europeans, Fitzpatrick has provided a ray of hope going into a Ryder Cup year. While his participation in the event is by no means certain, a lack of in-form Europeans means the young Englishman has a real chance of making the team. On a personal level, Fitzpatrick will be hoping to continue his good performances and win more tournaments. If he continues to improve at the level he has this year, there’s no reason why Fitzpatrick shouldn’t be targeting victories at the Majors in the future.
