Matthew Fitzpatrick out to early lead at Genesis Invitational
Matthew Fitzpatrick is taking advantage early on at Riviera and has grabbed the early lead at the Genesis Invitational.
He would start his day on the back nine, and wouldn’t wait long before making his charge to the top of the leaderboard. After starting with a par, he would nearly chip in for eagle on the 11th, knocking it to three feet from around 30 yards out, making his short birdie putt.
He gave it back on the 13th, with a short chip to eight feet, and a missed putt, meaning that he was even through four. You can tell that he either has a short memory for mistakes or wanted to get it back right away, as that is what he did at the par-3 14th hole.
He would drain an incredible 43 footer here, and Matthew Fitzpatrick would follow it up on the next par-3 on the 16th hole with a 10-footer, getting to -2 on the day.
The big move would come on the first hole, which is a par-5 measuring in at 209 yards. He trickled into the first cut of the rough left of the fairway, but that didn’t mess with him too much, as his next shot rolled up, stopping just 25 feet short of the flag. Showing that the long putt from earlier wasn’t a fluke, Matthew Fitzpatrick would sink the eagle putt, and climb all the way to -4.
After a string of five pars that were highlighted by four chip shots landing within five feet, it seemed like he was tired of chipping. He knocked his approach on the par-4 7th hole to three feet and made the birdie to get to -5, alone at the top of the leaderboard at the time.
Another five-footer for par at the 8th and Fitz would walk to the 9th hole looking to take the lead into the clubhouse. As he did so many times throughout the day, he was sitting next to the green after two shots. He made it a bit easier on himself this time, chipping it to within three feet before making the putt and walking to the clubhouse with a 66, sitting alone in the lead for the time being.
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There are still a lot of talented golfers left to play, and a lot of holes in general left to be played in the opening round. Keep an eye open all evening to see if the lead that Matthew Fitzpatrick has is able to hold up.