Matt Fitzpatrick hits and hopes his way into golf’s history books

With the golfing world now at his feet, hanging up his clubs may be a fair way off, writes Ben Burrows

‘I can retire a happy man tomorrow,’ Matt Fitzpatrick said after his US Open victory on Sunday (EPA)

After playing some of the best golf of his career, Matt Fitzpatrick’s most important shot of the week came down to a slice of good fortune.

Paired up in the final group with American Will Zalatoris, Fitzpatrick went toe-to-toe with the world number 12 in a thrilling final round at Brookline to give himself a one-shot advantage going down the last. Then, just what he didn’t want: a pushed final tee shot that found a fairway bunker.

What came next was what Jack Nicklaus – the man Fitzpatrick would go on to emulate as only the second player to win the US Amateur and US Open at the same venue – would later call “one of the great iron shots under pressure I’ve ever seen”.