2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational: Top 10 power rankings at Bay Hill

It seems to just be a matter of time before Matthew Fitzpatrick breaks through in the U.S. The 26-year-old Englishman has already proven himself six times on the European Tour and has had plenty of chances to add to his resume on the PGA Tour.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational has produced some of Fitzy’s best opportunities. He’s played here more than any PGA Tour event in his career with four made cuts in six starts.

All four times playing the weekend ended inside the top 27. He’s really come on at Bay Hill since 2017 with a T-13th (67-69-72-76), solo second (70-70-67-71) and T-9th (70-75-75-69) last year.

Fitzpatrick was the 54-hole leader in 2019 and played a decent final round only to be outdueled by two by Francesco Molinari’s Sunday 64. Fitzpatrick’s 69 last year was the round of the day by two on Sunday.

He’s not a long hitter by any means, but the guy can grind. Fitzpatrick seems to play his best in tough conditions.

The former Northwestern Wildcat (for a semester) ended 2020 with a win at the European Tour’s Race to Dubai finale, the DP World Tour Championship.

Now in his last three starts, Fitzpatrick posted T-17th in Dubai, T-5th at Riviera and T-11th last week at the WGC-Workday Championship.

He ranks 20th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained tee to green (1.041 per round). Fitzpatrick is barely in the top 200 in driving distance, though I don’t see that being a big issue seeing how many holes the big hitters tend to lay back on off the tee.

“I like that it’s quite penal off the tee and missing the greens,” Fitzpatrick was transcribed by ASAP Sports in 2017. “If you really hit it well tee to green you can shoot some good scores. And I enjoy playing courses like this, it’s a challenge.”