Alex Fitzpatrick would make a fabulous poker player should he ever decide trying to coax a small white ball into an equally small dark hole is not his cup of tea.
No way would the Englishman ever show his hand while sitting at the table. That much was obvious ahead of the 48th Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida.
The 22-year-old Sheffield, England, native is the only returning Great Britain and Ireland player from the side that lost at Royal Liverpool Golf Club two years ago. The Wake Forest student was able to draw on elder brother Matt’s experience of playing in the 2013 Walker Cup at the National Golf Links of America. Five-time European Tour winner and 2016 Ryder Cup player Matt has spent time this week with the GB&I team along with 2014 Ryder Cup captain and 1991 Walker Cup player Paul McGinley.
What did McGinley tell the GB&I players? Mum’s the word as far as Fitzpatrick is concerned.
“I can't share the information so the Americans don't hear, but it was very valid information and something that the whole team had an interest in and we can use to our advantage,” said Fitzpatrick, who recently won the Valspar Collegiate, his first college victory. “That's going to be our plan set in stone come Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully we can act on it and bring home a trophy come Sunday.”
Onto brother Matt. “His plan was to come help out the team in as many ways as possible, and he came and walked the course with us, which was nice, and gave us some good pointers,” Fitzpatrick said.
What pointers would those be? Again Fitzpatrick put the shutters up. “That is also classified information, I'm afraid,” he replied.
The Englishman did reveal what he learned on a personal level from his 2019 experience.
“I tried to go out and play most days, and I think I ended up preparing in a way that probably best didn't suit me, just sort of playing too much golf,” he said. “I learnt that it's not all about playing 18 as many times as you can but pacing yourself and maybe playing nine here and there. Just making sure that you don't overdo yourself because by Saturday and Sunday, you're playing 36 a day, especially in the heat, it's going to be tough. You don't want to be burned out before you even start.”
GB&I took a one-point lead into the final singles session two years ago but lost that session 8-2 to lose the match for the second successive time. Fitzpatrick was open enough to admit GB&I can’t let that happen this year.
“I think the only thing you could kind of take out from it was that putting points on the board early is probably the most important thing you can do, making sure the guys behind you can all see that you're getting that blue on the board as early as you can and getting them points. Just trying to rack up enough points to make sure that you win.”
Alistair Tait is an English-based writer who has been covering the game across Europe for more than 30 years. Email him at alistair.tait@btinterent.com