THE 154TH OPEN

July 16, 2026

Alex Fitzpatrick

Mixed Zone

Q. How do you reflect on the round?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I felt like I played a little better than what I scored. Hit a couple bad shots coming down the stretch, which was a little frustrating, especially not birdieing either of the par-5s. But yeah, I played well, so the course didn't feel too bad, but I know it can be tricky when the wind gets up, especially in the afternoon.

I did the best I could, and yeah, that's all I had today.

Q. Do you think there were more opportunities on the front nine than the back nine?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: I think the first three or four holes are scorable, and then you kind of go through a spell where it gets quite tricky. It's really a good mixture of hard holes and easy holes. But again, for me, I didn't birdie either of the par-5s so that's why the score wasn't as low.

Q. What kind of score do you think is out there potentially?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: I would see someone shooting 5 or 6 today would be my opinion. Just depends if the wind gets up. If the wind doesn't, then 5 or 6 might be the best score today.

Q. Do you have some food now and go back on the range?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: I'll go have some food and I'll take a little bit of a rest. It's getting a bit warm out there, so it will be nice to get a drink and sit down, and then I'll go hit some balls and see if I can work on some stuff.

Q. Certainly saw some scenic areas on that round. How frustrating was there and how hard were those shots you had to play?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, it was frustrating. I didn't hit that great a shot on 13 and found myself in a ridiculous lie in the rough, which really -- it was the wrong club, but it wasn't a bad shot. Then just hit a terrible shot on 17 with a club that I don't really like but have in the bag. It's annoying; you come to links golf and you want to put an iron in to run a long way, but I've played 9-woods and 7-woods all year and they've been amazing for me, so it was a little infuriating putting an iron in, but at the same time it's links golf so you need something that can run a long way.

So yeah, wasn't happy with the club and just hit a terrible shot.

Q. How much different do you feel now than three years ago, given everything you've achieved in the last six months?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, my game is in a completely different spot than I was three years ago, and I feel like my golf the past three months shows that I can compete in big tournaments. I feel like if I play my best golf this week, I can compete. I didn't quite have my best game today, but I feel like I didn't play my way out of the tournament at all, so now looking forward to the next couple days and see what happens.

Q. Can you talk us through your decision to hit that shot on 10? You waited for the group --

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, you can be close to the bunkers on -- you have like 240 to the bunkers, so you have to lay back a bit so you're not pushing close to the bunkers and then you've got a blind second shot.

I feel like driver is probably the strongest club in my bag, and I feel confident that I can -- I was trying to -- if it's in the fairway, great, but I feel like if it just runs out into the rough you're really just chipping up to the green, so I felt like it was a good opportunity if I hit a good one I'm chipping on. I thought I actually hit a really good pitch and it just ran a bit too far and I had 30 feet coming back.

Q. Is it pin dependent there?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Well, not really. Wind dependent I would say, just too windy just because it brings in the bunkers on the right. Just depends on the wind.

Q. Can you explain that again? If the wind is coming in from the left, then --

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, if the wind is in off the left, you can't cover the left side of the rough (no microphone).

Q. Henrik was saying the pin positions today were pretty tough.

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I think definitely they tucked quite a few of them. For me, being on the wrong side of the fairway you have no chance at all. It's just really playing sensible. I think they did a good job with the pin positions; like the front pins were all kind of tucked near bunkers.

Q. On 13 do you aim right? Do you kind of aim for the rough?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: 13 with the --

Q. With the burn on the left and you said you had a bad lie in the rough.

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, you're aiming -- driver, there's a good chance you run into that far trap so you've got to hit 3-wood, but if you mis-hit the 3-wood you've got hybrid into a front right flag that's tucked behind a couple bunkers. Again, me and Rickie made the same mistake; we both hit clubs that we thought were good and they came up long, and they were four or five yards right of the target, and suddenly you're in an awkward spot and you're lucky to make 5.

Q. The club that you put in, did you put that in last week or just this week?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: I put it in this week. It wasn't quite windy enough last week, so I was pretty comfortable with keeping it in the bag. I felt like I needed something that was going to run 260, 270 today, and yeah, I've just never been good with my longer irons. I like as much help as I can get.

Q. Did you have a 9-wood last week?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: I had the 9-wood, yeah.