By Patrick Snell, CNN
Newtown Square, Pennsylvania (CNN) — With the PGA Championship taking place just a few miles outside of the City of Brotherly Love this week, it’s certainly appropriate that two English siblings find themselves in contention for a major title.
Last month, Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick teamed up to share an emotional and historic win at the Zurich Classic before Alex recorded back-to-back top 10 finishes in his first two solo PGA Tour starts. That victory in New Orleans was Matt’s third in four tournaments, while Alex’s followed a breakthrough career triumph in India the previous month.
“It’s kind of really hard to describe. If someone had told me you’d win your first DP World Tour event and then a couple of weeks later you’d win on the PGA Tour, I’d have never ever believed you,” Alex Fitzpatrick told CNN Sports this week.
“Everything has changed,” the young Englishman added.
It’s never easy growing up in the shadow of your older brother, especially when he’s the 2022 US Open winner, but Alex Fitzpatrick has done a pretty good job of it.
For years, it was Matt’s name grabbing the headlines, but the narrative has now indeed changed and that’s just fine as far as the older Fitzpatrick brother is concerned. Matt says he’s both impressed and “super proud” of Alex’s recent achievements.
“I’m probably known as Alex’s brother now, as opposed to him being Matt’s brother,” Matt Fitzpatrick told reporters on Monday at Aronimink Golf Club outside Philadelphia while admitting it would be a “weird feeling” if the pair were ever battling it out to win a tournament.
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions for the younger Fitzpatrick who, before that win in Louisiana, was scheduled to immediately travel to Turkey to compete in an event there.
That trip never happened though, as winning in the Big Easy paved the way for the 27-year-old from Sheffield to earn his PGA Tour card through 2028, as well as entry into the lucrative $20 million signature events – not to mention a place in the second men’s major of the year.
He goes into the tournament in red-hot form, too, following a tied-for-ninth finish at the Cadillac Championship, then a fourth-place finish this past Sunday in North Carolina, having had a one-shot overnight lead going into the final round.
This will be Alex’s second start in a major following an impressive showing in his first at the 2023 Open Championship, where he finished tied for 17th and four shots better off than his older brother.
“The majors are the biggest events of the year. That was one of the goals of this year, to try and get into a major and I didn’t know how I was going to do it but they’re the most amazing events. And playing in the Open Championship, in front of a home crowd, was unbelievable, so I was super excited to try and get that opportunity again to play in one of the majors,” Alex said.
In a matter of just weeks, Alex’s life has turned on its head. With a trio of top 10 finishes and having won the best part of $3 million in his last three tournaments, Alex Fitzpatrick’s stock is very much on the rise.
It’s all a far cry from growing up as Matt’s younger brother.
“It’s very strange. I grew up following him around. That was kind of what I did when I was young. I got taken to all the tournaments. I wanted to stay at home and be with my friends, but my parents made me come to some of the tournaments before I started getting into them, so I kind of got dragged around a little bit as a kid, but not in a bad way,” A