Matt Fitzpatrick denied letting his wife Katherine draw on his golf balls (Image: Getty)
Matthew Fitzpatrick once denied claims made by his wife that she regularly marks his golf balls with sweet messages. The 31-year-old from Sheffield is currently in action at this weekend’s WM Phoenix Open, where he made a strong start in the opening round.
Fitzpatrick birdied seven of his first eight holes at the PGA Tour event in Arizona, shooting a stunning 29 on the front nine and adding another birdie at the 12th, but finished two strokes off the lead following two bogeys on his final two holes. The Englishman will be fully focused on closing the gap on Chris Gotterup on Friday, with his wife, Katherine Gaal, offering her support as usual. But there was a point last year, while he was battling for The Open Championship crown, that Fitzpatrick shut down Gaal’s comments about how she supported her husband. He had positioned himself well for the major, trailing leader Scottie Scheffler by a single stroke, when Gaal’s activity on social media drew attention away from his game.
Gaal, from New Jersey, documented herself in a TikTok video writing loving customised messages on her husband’s golf balls before the tournament. Armed with a coloured marker, she said: “Let’s mark my husband’s golf balls for The Open. How many balls do you need?”, to which Fitzpatrick laughed: “Hopefully not many.”
She could then be seen writing in red marker “MF IS CUTE” and “I LOVE YOU” on two of the balls. The third then read “XO”, with numerous small love hearts drawn around it. Speaking about why she enjoys designing the balls, she explained: “It’s a special way for me to get involved.
“Most of the time I do hearts and stars, sometimes if it’s more of a serious tournament then I’ll do fish.” Fitzpatrick’s father, Russ, who was sitting next to her for the drawing session, then responded: “What are you on about?
Katherine drew sweet messages on the balls (Image: Katherine Fitzpatrick)
“No, I know you don’t do that because I get all the second-hand balls and none of them look like that,” he chuckled. “All the golfers also know he doesn’t mark them like that.”
An unfazed Gaal continued: “Well, anyway, I’m still going to give you a pack of special golf balls, Matt. You don’t have to use them but they’re packed and sealed with love.”
When the viral video was put to the golfer by reporters, he swiftly dismissed the idea that she regularly prepares his balls for him. He said: “She does not mark my golf balls. She does not, no, and I would not let her, no.”
Fitzpatrick is from Sheffield while his wife is from New Jersey (Image: Getty)
When pushed further on whether he had used the balls featured in his wife’s video during The Open, Fitzpatrick again answered: “I have not, no.”
The couple married in New Jersey in October 2024, having gone public with their relationship in January 2023. Gaal, who was a former beauty queen and runner-up in the Miss New Jersey USA pageant back in 2014, also holds a double major degree in broadcast journalism and finance from Penn State University.
She worked as a tennis professional at the Bay Head Yacht Club in Bay Head, New Jersey, for two and a half years before moving into marketing. She also has sports running through her veins, with her grandfather Dean Cetrulo winning a bronze medal in fencing at the 1948 London summer Olympics.