THE 154TH OPEN

July 17, 2026

Alex Fitzpatrick

Mixed Zone

Q. Alex, great round today. What pleased you most about it?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: I just played the golf that I was hoping that I would play out there today. I think yesterday's round, I played some good golf but didn't score as well as I wanted, whereas today I felt like I capitalised on a couple chances. I still feel like I left quite a few out there, which is obviously annoying, but I'm just happy to be here on the weekend.

Q. But you've put yourself in a great position for the weekend.

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Definitely, yeah. I haven't even checked where the leaderboard is at. Last time I checked I was about ninth. I'll just keep on playing the golf I know I can play, and it's exciting.

Q. Do you draw on memories from before?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Not really. I feel like I was a lot different golfer back then. I feel like my game has changed quite a lot, and my strengths are definitely different now, but I feel a bit more well-rounded as a golfer and definitely more relaxed out there.

I think the weekend will be fun.

Q. Can I ask you about conditions? There's obviously been a couple of 62s today. Are you kind of surprised how scorable it is, and can you explain why people are scoring low?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I didn't see two 8-unders out there. They must have played a municipal course down the road or something. Yeah, especially I feel like in The Open, especially the later tee times are always the hard ones, and I was quite lucky I got blessed with a good draw.

I think playing this golf course when there's not much wind, you definitely have a lot more chances. Mainly, I think, if you find the fairways with no wind, you're not hitting too much in, but obviously as soon as the wind picks up, you're hitting 7-iron from 150, and suddenly you've got like tough downwind holes and stuff. It is definitely a challenge, and again, I did not see two 8-unders out there.

Q. Just a little bit about the course. How does that play into the scoring as well?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I think today they tucked a few more pins than they did yesterday. I think that obviously makes it -- I thought would make it a little tougher, seeing there was a lot more 3, 4s off the left and I think 5 and 6 yesterday.

I just hope they don't put the pin like they did on 14 for the rest of the week. That was a bit of a tricky one. But yeah, they just played great. I think if you play good golf out here, you get rewarded, and that's how it is.

Q. What's the plan for the evening, and how do you prepare for the weekend?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: I will put my feet up, and yeah, hopefully put something on TV.

Q. Are you watching anything?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Nothing in particular. Nothing fun, I'm afraid.

Q. I noticed that you love hitting fades. Has that always been the case?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: That's a funny one. I've always loved playing fades. A long time ago I really struggled with driver because I basically couldn't get the ball in the air off the tee. I would sort of resort to like a low squeeze cut. I did a lot of work in college especially, and my old coach Mark Blackburn did a great job of getting rid of that for me. Now I feel like I'm in a really good spot with my driver where I feel like it's the best club in my bag, and I feel like I'm happy to take that out all the time and use it as much as I can. But yeah, just always resorted to a cut even though I prefer seeing draw.

Q. You said a few years ago you were struggling to get it in the air. What was the shot you were seeing?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: There were just some technical problems. It's the same as now, but just managing it a little better, but my left arm kind of shifts out away from my body and then that kind of results in a low, stinging cut and if I don't do that, I back up and it goes right. We've just done a really good job of trying to keep my left arm in, keep it more connected, and that seems to work the trick.

Q. You've got this stock shot you like, but if you hit it too much -- how do you keep it in the guardrails?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: In all honesty, it's just trying to feel more extreme with my left arm. The best example is I'm good friends with Cam Young, and one of the things we looked at with him is he pauses a lot, and I started to pause more, and that felt like after seeing him, that was how he kept his left arm in, and basically just copied him.

Q. Are you in digs with Matt, like accommodation?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: Yeah.

Q. Contrasting fortunes, how have you --

ALEX FITZPATRICK: I haven't seen. Has he missed the cut? I have no idea, to be honest. I don't think he'll be particularly happy. But he's had such an amazing year. His wife is close to giving birth, so there's more important things than golf right now for him.

Q. Do you generally discuss performances?

ALEX FITZPATRICK: No, no, I just leave him to do his stats, and I'll just watch my TV.