Matt Fitzpatrick really struggled on day three of the US Open at Shinnecock Hills.
Fitzpatrick was paired alongside Wyndham Clark in the final group at Shinnecock on Saturday.
However, as Clark posted a 70 to take a six-stroke lead into the final round, Fitzpatrick labored to a round of 74 to drop down into a tie for 10th.
Matt Fitzpatrick struggled early on in his third round at the US Open, and he put himself behind the eight-ball immediately with three bogeys in his first three holes.
Shinnecock Hills was proving to be extremely challenging, but the 31-year-old Englishman quite simply didn’t have his ‘A’ game.
Many expected Matt Fitzpatrick to be Wyndham Clark’s closest challenger at the US Open, but his swing betrayed him on Long Island on Saturday afternoon.
Matt Fitzpatrick has an issue he must address after painful US Open viewing
Fitzpatrick has a clear issue that he simply must address as soon as possible.
And it was painfully obvious to see during his third round at Shinnecock on Saturday.
Fitzpatrick was obviously struggling with the timing of his swing, but as he began to play worse, his pre-shot routine became slower and slower with every hole that passed.
We saw this back in April as well, when Fitzpatrick took more than three minutes to hit a shot during the final round of the RBC Heritage.
This isn’t just a one-off issue.
The Englishman spends far too long talking to his caddie before finally pulling the trigger.
It’s also fair to argue that this approach doesn’t actually help him either.
The final group took four and a half hours to play their third round at Shinnecock on Saturday. While it is a major championship being played on an extremely difficult golf course, that is far too long for a twosome to get around.
A big change is needed quickly, with the onus on the PGA Tour to really crack down on slow play.
What Matt Fitzpatrick told a PGA Tour official about slow play
Back in March during the Valspar Championship, Fitzpatrick complained to PGA Tour officials about Adrien Dumont de Chassart’s pace of play.
The Englishman was paired with the Belgian during the final round, and became increasingly more frustrated about the time it was taking Dumont de Chassart to play his shots.
Rules official Orlando Pope said that Fitzpatrick had spoken with an official about the Belgian’s pace of play.
The PGA Tour rules official they chose to give Dumont de Chassart an official warning after timing him.
The big concern here is that Matt Fitzpatrick clearly doesn’t like slow play, so perhaps he is unaware of his own issue.
Maybe someone close to the five-time PGA Tour winner needs to have an honest and open discussion with him, because his pace of play has been far too slow for a long time now.
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