2022 Open Championship: Top 10 Power Rankings at St. Andrews

Matt Fitzpatrick’s first start after becoming a new major champion was mostly a success. The Englishman had an outside chance at coming back for the win entering Sunday’s final round last week at the Genesis Scottish Open.

Fitzpatrick bounced back from an opening 71 in tough conditions to finish in 66-70-70 for T-6th and four shots behind like where he started the day.

He didn’t have his best stuff at The Renaissance Club but was 13th in scrambling (67.86%) and T-10th in birdies (14) to piece together a good week. Don’t look too much into his T-39th finish at the J.P. McManus Pro-Am earlier in the week.

Fitz is 4-for-6 making the cut at The Open Championship. He seems to relish when conditions are tough and is no stranger to U.K. weather. Highlights at this event include a T-44th and low amateur honors in 2013 at Muirfield and T-20th in 2019 at Royal Portrush.

Fitzpatrick’s 22-for-29 making the cut with three top-10s in majors.

He was not in the 2015 field at St. Andrews. Fitzpatrick has played at St. Andrews for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship five times. Most recent was in 2019 when he shot 67-70 on the weekend at the Old Course en route to T-26th at the three-course tournament.

Along with his stirring U.S. Open victory last month, the 27-year-old took T-14th at the Masters and was in the final group at the PGA Championship this year.

Fitzpatrick ranks second on the PGA Tour in total strokes gained per round (2.038). He’s a meticulous worker who has added 20-plus yards off the tee to be able to compete week in and week out.

That was all it took for him to achieve well-rounded status. Fitzpatrick is top-35 in each SG stat, including third around the green (.506) and tee to green (1.683).

The Country Club had quite different bunkering than the Old Course. With that said, he can pull confidence from his shot on the 72nd hole if he’s in a sandy lie this week.

Plus, Fitzpatrick is 12th in sand saves (61.97%).