LOS ANGELES — Matthew Fitzpatrick was given the opportunity to pass on the question, but at first thought about giving it a shot.
“I’ll answer it,” the defending U.S. Open champion said when asked: “Do you feel like you should be compensated for not going to LIV?”
Fitzpatrick’s mind was in overdrive. You could tell by his face. For a second it appeared he was going to jump in, perhaps join his colleagues who have not been shy about saying they should be rewarded for their loyalty to the PGA Tour.
But he could not get out the words.
“Yeah, pass,” he finally said, followed by a very uncomfortable laugh.
Fitzpatrick was first on the firing line Monday at the Los Angeles Country Club, site of the 2023 U.S. Open, the first major since the golf world was rocked by the announcement the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which owns LIV Golf, were now partners.
A year ago, things were so much simpler, especially after Fitzpatrick captured his first major championship, finishing one stroke ahead of Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
Things then certainly were not “confusing,” a word, or one similar, Fitzpatrick uttered five times to describe what he knows about the PGA Tour-LIV Golf union.
“I seem to remember just last year just thinking about the tournament, just the U.S. Open,” he said. “It was obviously different because I had the tie to the golf course and the history there, so probably was easier for me to mentally focus on that and be in a better place than obviously all this confusion that’s going on this week.
“I just don’t know what’s going on. I don’t think anyone knows what’s going on. Are we signing with the PIF? Are we not signing with the PIF? I have no idea. Even though I guess it is confusing, it’s pretty clear that nobody knows what’s going on apart from about four people in the world.”
PGA Tour pros are not alone in their confusion on what to make of golf’s future. Aussie Cam Smith, one the more notable players who defected from the Tour to join LIV last summer, is as much in the dark as Fitzpatrick and everyone else … apart from those four people.
Smith said he received a call from Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi’s PIF, last Tuesday about 10 minutes before Al-Rumayyan appeared with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan on CNBC to make the announcement.
The call was more out of courtesy than informational.
“I think he was probably calling a few different players, so the call was kind of short and sweet,” Smith said Monday. “Didn’t really explain much, but just kind of explained what was going to happen on that day, and there was still a lot of stuff to work out.”
For Fitzpatrick, one of those things to be worked out is his game after revealing the bulging disk he was diagnosed with in February had a “slight flare-up” Friday at the RBC Canadian Open. He recovered well enough to finish tied for 20th.
Fitzpatrick’s game, though, did suffer when the injury first occurred. He missed three cuts in four starts prior to the Masters, where he felt good enough to finish in a tie for 10th. The next week he defeated Jordan Spieth in a playoff at the RBC Heritage for his second career PGA Tour victory.
The results have been inconsistent since with a T-9 at the Memorial a week after missing the cut at the PGA Championship.
“I definitely feel like my game is in better shape,” said Fitzpatrick, who is ranked No. 8 in the world. “I certainly don’t think it’s as good as it was last year.”
But is that good enough to retain the 18-inch tall sterling silver trophy that goes to the U.S. Open winner and take it on another vacation? We’ll know Sunday.
Fitzpatrick was forced to return the trophy — “I was so sad about that. I didn’t feel I spent enough time with it,” he said — as it now awaits a new owner.
Still, it became his best friend while in his custody, even accompanying him for a week-long vacation to Italy after the British Open.
“It went a few places, actually,” he said. “We were on a boat, so to Capri, Amalfi, Positano. Had a few nice day trips.”