Winner's Bag
U.S. Open 2022: The clubs Matt Fitzpatrick used to win at The Country Club
Patrick Smith
Matt Fitzpatrick has been zeroing in on his first PGA Tour win for some time, and when he finally grabbed it, it was a big one—taking the 2022 U.S. Open in an epic final-round battle with Will Zalatoris and Scottie Scheffler.
The twists over the final nine were plentiful, including an uncharacteristic three-putt from Fitzpatrick at the short par-3 11th. However things really got interesting starting at the 13th, where Fitz dropped a 48-foot putt for birdie to seemingly take the lead until Zalatoris dropped a lengthy putt for par. Zalatoris dropped a shot with a bogey at 15, but with Scheffler about to knot him with a birdie at 17, Fitz dropped a 19-footer for another birdie at 15 after a brilliant iron approach from a bare patch 230 yards out that proved to be the difference.
The win bookends Fitzpatrick’s 2013 U.S. Amateur win at the same venue and the familiar surroundings clearly agreed with him. Fitzpatrick tied for the tournament lead in greens in regulation, hitting 52 of 72 (72.2 percent), including an astounding 17 of 18 on Sunday. Fitzpatrick’s irons are a split set of Pings—he uses the company’s i210 model for his 4-iron and the venerable S55 irons, which have been out on tour for nearly a decade. The clubs have Ping CFS shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips.
Also of note in Fitzpatrick’s bag is the inclusion of a 7-wood. Although 7-woods have become increasingly popular over the past several years, Fitzpatrick was one of its earlier adopters.
TSi1/TSi2/TSi3/TSi4
WHAT IT DOES: Two of the four models cater to the extremes: the lightweight, slightly draw-biased TSi1 and the meaty, low-flying, ultra-low-spinning TSi4. The two middle models are for most of the market: those whose priority is forgiveness (TSi2) and those looking for playability and shotmaking (TSi3). Fitting four player types is nice, but the really neat achievement was finding extra speed. That meant using a special high-strength titanium originally designed for the Mars Lander. The lighter and faster-flexing alloy (ATI 425) means more design freedom to create extra off-center-hit stability in the TSi2 and movable weight in the more pear-shaped TSi3.
G425 Max/G425 SFT/G425 LST
WHAT IT DOES: Ping’s three-model fairway-wood family includes the Max (the most forgiving in the line for the broadest set of golfers), the anti-slice SFT and the low-spinning LST 3-wood. All of the clubheads feature Ping’s first wraparound face design, which is made of high-strength maraging steel to produce faster ball speeds. The Max uses a rear tungsten weight to create high stability on off-center hits, but the smaller size on the LST means the tungsten weight results in spin reduction. The SFT is the largest, and the weight chip favors the heel side to make it easier to square the face at impact.
But with Fitzpatrick, it always comes back to the putter and his Bettinardi DASS prototype proved the difference-maker. The putter, which was made specifically for Fitzpatrick, is a mirror image of the Yes! Tracy II model he used since he was 16 years old. Fitzpatrick put the blade-style putter, which includes face grooves just like the Tracy II, in play in 2020. In all, Fitzpatrick—previously a seven-time European Tour winner—made more than 80 feet of putts over the final nine holes.
Epic, indeed.
What Matt Fitzpatrick had in the bag at the 2022 U.S. Open
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: Titleist TSi3 (Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Orange 65 TX), 9 degrees
3-wood: Ping G425 Max, 14.5 degrees
7-wood: Ping G410, 20.5 degrees
Irons (4): Ping i210; (5-PW): Ping S55
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (52, 56, 60 degrees)
Putter: Bettinardi DASS prototype