June 20, (THEWILL) – Matt Fitzpatrick won the 2022 U.S. Open at Brookline with a final-round 68 on Sunday, to lift the first major championship of his career.
The 27-year-old Englishman, who was tied for the lead after 54 holes with Will Zalatoris, broke away down the stretch, making two birdies on his final six holes to win the US Open, his first on the PGA Tour. The Englishman attributed his triumph to a shot he made on the 72nd hole, a fairway bunker 9-iron approach to the green.
Zalatoris fought Fitzpatrick all day, but bogeys on numbers 12 and 15 put him in trouble. The runner-up in the 2022 PGA Championship missed a birdie putt on number 18 that would have forced a playoff, resulting in a 1-under 69 and a third career second-place major finish.
Fitzpatrick, who won the US Amateur at The Country Club in 2013, is the 13th player to win both the US Amateur and US Open, and the second to do so at the same venue. The only other player to achieve the feat is Jack Nicklaus, who won at Pebble Beach in 1961 and 1972.
After a final-round 3-under 67 that included four birdies in his opening six holes, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who won his first major win at the 2022 Masters in April, tied for second place with Zalatoris. Rory McIlroy, the 2011 U.S. Open champion, finished T5 with a 1-under 69.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
