a day ago
Matt Fitzpatrick labels US Open course 'UNFAIR' and claims golfers are being 'penalised too harshly' for bad shots after punishing three days at Oakmont
Matt Fitzpatrick has broken ranks to describe the US Open course as 'unfair' after three days of bogeys and bedlam at Oakmont Country Club.
While the rest of the field has remained tight-lipped on whether the curators of this Pittsburgh layout have crossed a line with this test, the 2022 champion did not hold back.
After closing with a double bogey for a 72, leaving the Englishman on nine over par for the tournament, Fitzpatrick told Mail Sport: 'I personally don't think it's fair. I think there's hard that's fair and there's just straight unfair. And I just think that this falls into that category, really.
'I just don't think it necessarily rewards good shots and I think it penalises bad shots too harshly.'
He added: 'I have spoken a lot over the last few years about rough graduation, and you can be more penalised for hitting a shot one yard off the fairway, six inches off the fairway, than you can 40 yards off the fairway.
'When you've got the greens as extreme as these, it amplifies any miss. I get that it's the same for everyone and you have got hit good shots and obviously it always sounds like sour graves when a player complains.
He believes golfers are not rewarded for good shots - and bad shots are penalised too badly
'I am a huge fan of the US Golf Association, I've played 11 US Opens now, and I feel like I've experienced what is hard and fair and what is hard and unfair over the course of my career now. I just feel like this falls into that category of unfair.
'I think Xander (Schauffele) said something great earlier this week. People watch the US Open to see us shoot eight over par and that's a good score - I completely agree with that. I love that. I think that's what makes it interesting from a normal week of shooting 25 under.
'(But) I just feel like there's a line, you know, that could be very dangerous. I'm all for an over par winning score, but I think when you do have three guys under par after two rounds, I think that kind of tells you a lot about what the golf course is doing.
'It is a tough golf course, but I think I don't necessarily feel like it needed to be made more extreme than it is.'
Fitzpatrick's view will doubtless be shared in the locker room at the business end of a week in which the world's elite have been pummelled by a combination of the rough and green speeds.
Bryson DeChambeau's missed cut on 10 over is just one example, though the USGA are hardly known for their squeamishness in the face of criticism over a stiff test.
Where the line should be drawn is matter of some debate, but when the course has averaged in excess of 900 bogeys of worse across the field per day, as it did in the first two rounds of gentle breezes, a question of fairness can be raised.
