Two-time Masters winner Rory McIlroy sent Matt Fitzpatrick a brilliant X-rated message after he and his younger brother won the pairs tournament at the Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana on Sunday. The Fitzpatrick brothers took home £1million in prize money each and became the first set of brothers to win a PGA Tour event together.
Alex now has a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour after the win in New Orleans and has a lot to thank his older brother for after a brilliant bunker shot on the 18th with a birdie needed to win the competition. His brilliant shot left Alex with a shot putt, and he made no mistake from close range.
Now, in an all-access video shared by the PGA Tour, the Fitzpatrick brothers are seen discussing a text message that Matt received from McIlroy.
Alex asked his brother: “Is your phone blowing up as well as mine?” Matt replied: “It’s Rory. ‘What a f****** bunker shot!'”
“I just watched it,” Alex said after watching the replay. “It’s one of the most disgusting bunker shots ever.”
The younger Fitzpatrick later said: “I just can’t get over that bunker shot. It was going sideways towards the hole.”
“It was a struggle. I was doing absolute (sic) zero to help him apart from the putt I made on 15. I wasn’t providing much support but he (Alex) was fantastic on the back nine,” said world number three Matt after the win.
Alex, ranked 141st in the world, has until 5pm local time (8pm BST) on Monday to officially join the PGA Tour to be eligible for the 20million US dollar (£14m) Cadillac Championship which starts on Thursday at US president Donald Trump‘s Doral resort in Florida.
Alex said: “It won’t sink in – I’ve got a flight booked for Turkey tonight (as he was scheduled to compete in the Turkish Airlines Open on the DP World Tour).
“It’s amazing to be here with him (Matt), mum and dad. It’s as good as it gets.”