After saying no to LIV, Alex Fitzpatrick makes pro debut in Ireland

KILKENNY, Ireland – Two weeks after his brother, Matt, broke through for his first major championship victory at the U.S. Open, Alex Fitzpatrick is looking for a breakthrough of his own.

Fitzpatrick is making his first professional start this week at the Horizon Irish Open after a four-year college career at Wake Forest.

“I think especially this week it’s about enjoying it. It’s your first one. It’s hard to go in there thinking, almost like all guns blazing but I’m just hoping to play some good golf and hopefully that will take care of a good result,” Fitzpatrick said on Tuesday.

Fitzpatrick said he spent last week celebrating his brother’s victory at Brookline but is now focused on the start of his own career. It’s a career that could have taken a vastly different path than his high-profile brother.

Full-field scores from the Horizon Irish Open

Fitzpatrick confirmed on Tuesday that he was approached by representatives from LIV Golf but ultimately decided against joining the startup circuit.

“It was a long discussion with my family about what the best scenario is, and we all came to the same conclusion, which was sort of, why do you play golf? And that to me was hopefully winning trophies and building yourself a legacy, and I felt like the best place to do that was starting on the PGA Tour,” he said. “Obviously, you want to win majors and win PGA Tour events, and that’s hopefully where I see myself going. That was the final conclusion we came to.”