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PGA Championship 2022: How one club’s epic Premier League survival could impact the final round at Southern Hills

In a fun little convergence of sports fate, the final round of the 2022 PGA Championship and the final day of 2021/2022 Premier League season both landed on Sunday. Happening in different countries an ocean apart, you might not imagine the outcome of one of the wildest final days in Premier League history would have much bearing on a golf tournament in Oklahoma … but you would be wrong.

On Sunday morning, Matthew Fitzpatrick—Sheffield native and one half of the tournament’s final pairing—took to Twitter to sweat it out with the rest of the world’s soccer fans. Fitzpatrick’s beloved Blades aren’t in the Premier League this year, but legendary caddie Billy Foster is a lifelong Leeds United supporter. With Leeds fighting for their Premier League life on Sunday, needing a win to guarantee safety, Foster’s final-round morale hung in the balance.

Well, good news for Foster and Fitzpatrick (and Fitzpatrick bettors), because Leeds United—seemingly dead in the water when they fired revered manager Marco Bielsa in February—escaped relegation with a 94th-minute Jack Harrison volley from outside the box that sent West Yorkshire into hysterics. Cue the SCENES.

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Alex Davidson

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Alex Davidson

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Alex Davidson

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ADRIAN DENNIS

Absolute LIMBS. When the beer dried and the flares fizzled, Leeds finished the season in 17th place, two points out of the final relegation spot. Are these the Good Vibes™ needed to propel Fitzpatrick to his first major with a jubilant Foster on the bag? That remains to be seen, but it certainly can’t hurt.