Matt Fitzpatrick opens up on “rivalry” with Bryson DeChambeau

Matt Fitzpatrick has said that his comments about Bryson DeChambeau “making a mockery of the game” were taken out of context and reveals he has since spoken to the US Open champ about them.

Six-time European Tour winner Fitzpatrick voiced his take on DeChambeau’s distance-first approach to the game back in October, which the Californian said he took as a “compliment”.

“It’s not a skill to hit the ball a long way in my opinion,” said Fitzpatrick in October. “I could put on 40 pounds. I could go and see a biomechanist, and I could gain 40 yards. I could put another two inches on my driver. I could gain that. But the skill in my opinion is to hit the ball straight.”

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Five months on and 26-year-old Fitzpatrick has opened up on the supposed rift between the fellow tour pros – a topic reignited by Fitzpatrick’s social media post on Monday night.

Speaking to reporters ahead of this week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, the Englishman was quizzed about the image and what it meant.

“We hate each other and it’s a really nasty thing between us,” he quipped. “No, it’s fine. Listen, we spoke a few times since the whole thing anyway and I made my comments, and that was my opinion at the time. 

“I think they were definitely taken out of context, there’s no doubt about that. We talked about it since and yeah, there’s no problems between us. It’s obviously just a bit of a media thing that people want it to turn into something. I wouldn’t fancy my chances in a fight anyway.”

Fitzpatrick is seeking to build on his positive start to the year at this week’s event, his worst finish over his previous five starts just a T17 finish at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

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In his bid to continue improving upon a solid start to the season, the world No.16 admitted he had in fact been taking some tips from his American counterpart.

“I was just asking him about his clubs and his speed training,” added Fitzpatrick. “I’ve been doing something similar and had been looking into it before my comments that I made last year.

“So, it’s nothing too new to me, it’s just quite interesting just to hear his thoughts and how he’s going about things to improve his swing speed and get longer.”