ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS

April 23, 2026

Alex Fitzpatrick

Matt Fitzpatrick

TPC Louisiana

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: I guess your overall thoughts on how today's round went, starting with Matt?

MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, yeah, it was okay. I felt like it was a little slow to start with. We didn't have enough balls on the green, early balls on the front nine to give ourselves chances. I thought we did a bad job on the back.

I've holed two long and lucky putts really on sort of 16, 17 there, which is a nice bonus, but would have been nice to take a advantage on 18 and make a birdie.

Yeah, really disappointing way to end with two balls in perfect position. It's not good enough really.

THE MODERATOR: Alex?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, he hit the nail on the head. Obviously frustrated. The two putts kind of helped us get to nine. I kind of didn't feel like I had my game today, so it was nice that he kind of played well and kind of carried us a little bit there.

Yeah, overall frustrated. To do what I did on the last, there's so much green to the left and a lot of grass over there. You know, to hit the shot I did was, yeah, not good enough. Hopefully come out firing tomorrow and see what we've got.

THE MODERATOR: What's the preference in terms of the way you want to play four ball and foursomes? Is it ideal to go four ball in the morning and foursomes in the afternoon tomorrow, or would you rather have it this way?

MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, that's a good question. I was thinking about that. I would probably say you would probably want to have four ball in the afternoon. I feel like you want an easier condition for the foursomes because it's harder.

I guess I always think about the Dunhill Links with three different courses, some easier than others, and some places windier than others, so where do you want that? I feel like normally you want the easiest conditions for the most scoring really, I would say, so maybe four ball in the morning.

Q. For average fans who may not appreciate the difference in the scoring today versus what you would anticipate tomorrow, how do you sort of get them to be able to sort of get an idea that in some ways pros have told me that you don't really know where you stand until two rounds have been played here. You need to get through one of each format to get a feel for things.

MATT FITZPATRICK: I agree. You have to play both of them. We could easily have been done before. You could easily go out and shoot 8-under in foursomes tomorrow, and that all of a sudden feels like 14-under today.

I think the biggest thing is getting those two rounds under your belt, seeing where you lie, and kicking on from there. Foursomes is obviously much harder. You've got two goes every hole. PGA TOUR standard, two goes every hole is going to be a good score.

Q. Alex, were you guys aware of the scores that were out there? Obviously you anticipate there's going to be really low scores here given the format and the history. Were you aware of what was out there? Did you sort of have an idea in mind, yeah, we can probably do well tomorrow, but we don't want to be spotting people too much?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I think like Matt said, you play in the foursomes in the morning with not much wind always helps. You know, I did think actually some of the shots out there were fairly tricky with the wind. I felt like the wind kind of picked up more as we went along. Yeah, some of the holes, especially the par-3s, it can be hard to get close to them.

You know, I think hopefully tomorrow I play a little better and we hit a few more greens and get a quicker start, and hopefully that leads to a few more birdies.

Q. You guys being from the U.K. probably played a lot morality Nat shot than a lot of people in the field. Hopefully an advantage for you, do you think?

MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, hopefully. We both played a bunch. Obviously the only thing is I've been a pro for 12, 13 years now, so maybe you lose that advantage in time.

Yeah, I definitely feel like it helps. We know the format a little bit better are. Yeah, maybe a small advantage.

Q. For you guys, which format is more satisfying? You can shoot a really low score on a day like today. You've got a partner there to pick you up and two balls in play the whole time. I would imagine in some ways if you shoot a score that might be numerically higher in alternate shot, you might feel like you accomplish more?

MATT FITZPATRICK: I do think foursomes probably a bit better from a feeling-wise. I was saying to Dan on the last one, I think it would be nice to have four ball on the final round. I think probably give more excitement for the fans on a Sunday.

I think when it's foursomes and it's getting tight, it's kind of -- it's maybe a bit more scrappy and you're not going to see as many birdies. That's just the way the format is. It's really tough.

I definitely feel like there's a bit of that. Definitely makes it more difficult for sure.

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I think alternate shot, I agree, I think playing four ball as the last round might be more exciting. I think the tricky thing with foursomes you kind of stop-start. You might hit a tee shot, and then all of a sudden you're hitting a putt. So you have that little bit of time in between shots that you don't -- you're not hitting as many shots, so you don't feel as loose. You're trying to deal with that as well as everything else that's going on. It makes it tougher.

For me I probably prefer the four ball just because it's a few more birdies to make. Yeah, maybe a bit more exciting.