The Fitzpatrick brothers eye Zurich Classic title, PGA Tour card for Alex

While Matt Fitzpatrick was winning the RBC Heritage last Sunday afternoon, Fitzpatrick’s younger brother, Alex, was on a flight from North Carolina to New Orleans.

“He made me pay $16 to watch that final round and the playoff,” Alex Fitzpatrick said.

A winner’s share of nearly $1.3 million would certainly help offset that cost.

The Fitzpatrick brothers – Matt, the 28-year-old reigning U.S. Open champion, and Alex, the 24-year-old Wake Forest product who is less than a year into his pro career – are among the teams set to compete in this week’s Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana near New Orleans.

This will be Matt’s first Zurich appearance, and one that he may not have made if not for a little “pestering” – from Alex, their parents and even his instructor.

“He was kind of forced into it a little bit,” Alex admitted. “I can’t remember what I was doing, but I received a text, and it was like, What are you doing on these dates? And half of me knew what it was after all the pestering. I thought we finally got through to him. … He’s like, Do you want to play? I was like, Yeah, sure, I’ll check my busy schedule, and make sure I can make it. But yeah, I agreed, and now we’re here.”

All kidding aside, Matt said getting Alex a second career PGA Tour start influenced his commitment, especially since he revealed it wasn’t the world-famous food scene – “I don’t really know much about the food here,” Matt said, to which Alex added, “Matt only spent three months in college, so I’ve probably got a little bit more information about New Orleans than he did.”

“Obviously this was an opportunity to play with my brother, and you don’t know how many of those you’re going to get,” Matt said. “For me, obviously I’m going to have to admit it now in front of everyone, but yeah, it was a no-brainer for me.”

The older Fitzpatrick enters this week as the world No. 8, fresh off his first non-major PGA Tour victory, at Harbour Town, which followed a T-10 at the Masters. Alex, who turned pro last June, has played mostly in Europe of late, notching six top-30s between the DP World and Challenge tours.

With the four-year age gap, there weren’t many, if any, opportunities to compete against each other growing up. Last year, they were grouped together at the DPWT’s Alfred Dunhill Links. And as for team golf, the only memory the Fitzpatricks have is an alternate-shot match at their home club when they were kids. On one hole, Matt recalled neither brother being able to clear a ravine off the tee, so Matt chipped a few tee boxes up so Alex could hit their second shot over.

Full-field scores from the Zurich Classic of New Orleans

These days, they form a much more formidable pair.

“No, I think the good thing about both our games, Alex is a very good iron player and he’s got a great short game, and I feel like my strengths are driving and putting,” Matt said. “Certainly alternate shot, that works quite nicely, and then obviously four-ball is Alex, I think he’s very good at making a lot of birdies. If I can kind of just steady the ship, I’ll just let him loose.”

So, could two Fitzpatricks hold PGA Tour cards by Sunday evening? (Both winners get two-year exemptions.)

“I’m just excited to get going,” Matt said. “I know the golf that [Alex] can play is high level, and I think if I can keep my form going and we can gel well, you never know what might happen.”