Best gift ever? Matt Fitzpatrick can change his brother’s career

Life is good for the Fitzpatrick family. Damn good, actually, as brothers Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick are leading the Zurich Classic by four, the annual team event on the PGA Tour. 

But life could get really good Sunday evening in the event that they win. Alex, ranked 141st in the world, would receive the biggest boost of his career: full PGA Tour membership through 2028 and qualification into the remaining Signature Events of 2026, as well as the PGA Championship next month. All via an event he may not have been playing in otherwise. 

Alex Fitzpatrick is one helluva golfer — we cannot forget that. And he’s well on his way to becoming a PGA Tour member for 2027, thanks to a victory a few weeks ago at the Hero Indian Open. But he’s a sponsor’s exemption this week at the Zurich, playing alongside his brother, who isn’t only the third-ranked player in the world. He’s also the most recent winner on the PGA Tour.

Matty Fitz is playing the best golf of his life, having just defeated Scottie Scheffler in a playoff last week at the RBC Heritage. He’s the main reason the Fitzpatricks entered this week as the favorite team on the odds sheet. Due to the funky nature of this event, the elder brother can hand-pick his younger brother as a teammate, so long as younger brother is a PGA Tour member or a sponsor’s exemption. Alex fits into the latter bucket. While Alex is certainly deserving of an exemption look, we’re guessing Matt’s interest in playing alongside his brother was some extra weight on the scale for tournament organizers. The two have paired up at the Zurich each of the last three years. 

All of that is the table setting for what could happen Sunday. After going fully nuclear Saturday afternoon, the Fitzpatrick bros now lead by four with just 18 holes to play. They shot a fourball tournament record of 57 (15 under), which was ultimately a very even lift. Matt made six birdies and an eagle while Alex made seven birdies, including a flurry of brilliant shots on the final three holes. 

It brings them the brink of something special, where a victory would launch Alex to a level his career has never seen. He’s never competed in a Signature Event, and would suddenly earn starts into four of them over the next nine weeks, in addition to a major championship along the way. If it doesn’t happen, Alex may be on the first flight out. He’s currently in the field at next week’s Turkish Airlines Open on the DP World Tour.

All it will take is playing well through a nervy, alternate-shot final round with one of your best friends. Other sets of brothers have competed in this event in the past, but none have ever won. And these stakes, clear as they may be to a TV watching audience, are definitely not far from mind for the Fitzpatricks, too, considering Alex was asked about it during a pre-tournament press conference.

“It would obviously mean a lot,” he said earlier this week. “I think the thing is you can’t force it. I think that would be something I might be thinking about if we’re coming down the stretch on Sunday and we’re in contention, but as of now, kind of the focus is on just preparing well and seeing where that takes us”

Fifty-four holes later, it’s all gotten a lot more real. They’ll tee off at 12:50 p.m. Sunday afternoon and will have between now and then to decide who hits the first tee shot.