Three takeaways from Matt Fitzpatrick’s ‘Full Swing’ Episode

In the middle of February, Netflix released a sports series that has received a ton of positive attention in the last several weeks. Full Swing is an eight-episode documentary that follows some of the biggest names in professional golf as they navigate their daily lives and rigorous obstacles in the sport that they love.

You may notice that there has been a shift in the past year involving some of golf’s most influential names while playing esports at https://thunderpick.io/en/esports. However, there are still some familiar faces featured in the series. One episode focuses on Matt Fitzpatrick of the United Kingdom. As the sport continues to grow by leaps and bounds, Fitzpatrick serves as a beacon of hope that some of the best talent can come from the UK.

It has already been announced that Netflix will be renewing Full Swing for a second season, which is something golf fans can be very happy about. For now, let’s take a closer look at three main conclusions fans can draw about Fitzpatrick from his episode.

He won’t be outworked

The show does an excellent job of putting Fitzpatrick’s career accomplishments into perspective. His life starts rather nondescriptly in England as a young boy who is part of a working-class family. Fitzpatrick takes to the sport at a relatively young age and will stop at nothing to realize his dream of turning pro one day.

There’s a really fun scene where Fitzpatrick is hanging out at home with a current golf journalist who knew him when he was in college. Fitzpatrick attended Northwestern University in Illinois, but left after a short time, during which he was transcendent as a collegiate golfer. He felt like it was best for him to return home across the pond, where he would put every ounce of his energy into training on the amateur circuit.

Fitzpatrick’s younger brother appears in the episode on a few occasions, and it’s clear that he looks up to him. The younger Fitzpatrick talks about how Matt eats, lives and breathes the sport, and spends every waking moment thinking about how he can improve. This level of dedication becomes even more impressive as Full Swing advances, since fans see that other golfers are more inclined to juggle other interests off of the course.

Potential is being realised

When Fitzpatrick left Northwestern to train for amateur golf competition, he was taking an enormous risk. He decided to pass up a top-tier education at one of the country’s finest schools in order to chase a dream that he was far from guaranteed to reach. Had Fitzpatrick not been able to reach the PGA Tour, it’s anyone’s guess as to where he would be today.

Of course, he did make it, and that choice paid off for him every step of the way. Fitzpatrick would capture the U.S. Amateur Championship back in 2013, which would put him on a pretty distinctive list. Other golf notables such as Bryson DeChambeau, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson also captured Amateur titles, and went on to have excellent careers.

As it turned out, the site of Fitzpatrick’s crowning achievement as an amateur would also be the same place where he would win his first major on the PGA Tour. The Country Club in Massachusetts would host the 2022 U.S. Open, and Fitzpatrick knew that his previous experience on the course could give him an edge. That turned out to be correct, as Fitzpatrick shot six under to hold off Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris in the high-profile event.

Loyal to the PGA

Many of the competitors who have been relevant in major tournaments in the last several seasons are no longer present. This is because a few golfers have decided to defect from the PGA Tour to join the highly controversial LIV Tour.

There are a lot of reasons why people on the outside have issues with the LIV Tour, but it is clear that they are sparing no expense in order to bring credibility to their brand. They’ve shelled out an exorbitant amount of money to bring household names like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Ian Poulter over, which allows them to earn more while playing less. It’s going to be fascinating to see whether any other golfers follow in their footsteps.

For now, it seems like Matt Fitzpatrick is content staying with the PGA Tour, which has given him the platform to shine. Fitzpatrick did say on Full Swing that LIV approached him with a half-hearted offer to join their tour, which he was not motivated to accept. If Fitzpatrick continues to build his resume on the PGA Tour, monitoring LIV’s attempt to counter their initial offer will be something worth watching.