WM Phoenix Open 2024: Top 10 power rankings at TPC Scottsdale
OWGR: 9th. FedEx Cup: 47th. Matt Fitzpatrick. Phoenix Open/Power Rank/8. 8
Matt Fitzpatrick is seeking his third top-30 in as many starts at the WM Phoenix Open.
The Englishman hasn’t looked like a fish out of water playing in the desert. In his 2022 debut, Fitzy carded 70-68-67-67 (-12) to finish T-10th. He ranked eighth in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach (4.243) and was in the top half in all SG categories.
Last year resulted in T-29th (70-71-73-65). Fitzpatrick left on a high note with a 6-under-par 65 on Sunday to vault 28 spots up the leaderboard.
The former Northwestern Wildcat is coming off a solid 2023 that featured a win in the spring on the PGA Tour at the RBC Heritage and a win in the fall on the DP World Tour at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Not to mention, Fitzpatrick got the monkey off his back by winning his first Ryder Cup point to help his victorious European side win in Rome.
Fitzpatrick closed 2023 with T-4th at the elite 20-player Hero World Challenge. He opened 2024 with T-14th at The Sentry.
The 29-year-old struggled the last couple weeks in California, but that’s been a state he’s struggled in throughout his career. Heading east to Arizona ought to do him some good.
Fitzpatrick was 11th last season on the PGA Tour in SG: Putting (.525). The flat stick hasn’t heated up yet this season primarily putting on unpredictable poa annua greens. Switching to Bermuda greens like he rolled it on in his win at Harbor Town should help.
His ball-striking statistics are also bound to tick up once there’s a larger sample size to work with. One area already in good form is approach proximity from 175-200 yards, where he’s 13th (24”10’).
If Fitzpatrick can summon the precise approach play he’s displayed for most of his career, he can cut down on those tough lag putts on TPC Scottsdale’s large, undulating green complexes.