Matt Fitzpatrick holds on to win U.S. Open for first major title

The 2013 U.S. Amateur featured a cluster of young players who were about to grow up and become the best golfers in the world. Scottie Scheffler. Justin Thomas. Xander Schauffele.

Matt Fitzpatrick beat them all that week at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. As if it were written in the stars, the Englishman came back to the same course nine years later and did it all over again.

Fitzpatrick returned to the site of his U.S. Amateur victory and claimed his first major championship, shooting a 2-under-par 68 Sunday to secure a one-shot win at the U.S. Open.

"I think there were expectations but I didn't feel them, in my opinion," Fitzpatrick said. "The field's such a strong field. So many great golfers playing.

"Obviously the expectations were for me to play well, but having won the U.S. Amateur here as well, I just felt so comfortable around this place. Know where to hit it. Know where to miss it. Yeah, just happy to be unbeaten around this place."

Fitzpatrick, 27, posted a 6-under 274 for the week, beating Will Zalatoris and Scheffler by a stroke. Fitzpatrick is the first player from England to win a U.S. Open since Justin Rose in 2013; it also counts as his first PGA Tour win after previously claiming seven titles on the DP World Tour.

Fitzpatrick outdueled Will Zalatoris down the stretch with crucial birdies at the par-4 13th and 15th holes. His drive at No. 18 found a bunker down the left side, but he managed to land his second shot on the green just 12 feet from the pin.

After Fitzpatrick two-putted for par, Zalatoris had a birdie putt to force a playoff that missed a hair to the left.

"The feeling's out of this world," Fitzpatrick said. "It's so cliche but it's stuff you dream of as a kid and to achieve it, I can retire a happy man tomorrow."

Hideki Matsuyama of Japan shot the low round of the week, a 5-under 65, to take fourth place at 3 under. Collin Morikawa (66) and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland (69) tied for fifth at 2 under.

Fitzpatrick and Zalatoris entered the day as 54-hole co-leaders and played in the final group of the day. Fitzpatrick carded three birdies and a bogey on the front nine before encountering trouble at the par-4 10th and par-3 11th, making consecutive bogeys.

Zalatoris drained a mid-length birdie putt at No. 11 for a two-shot swing. But he gave the shot back with a bogey at the next hole, lessening his lead to one, before another vital two-shot swing at the par-4 15th.

Fitzpatrick sent his drive far right but made an incredible recovery shot, landing on the green and making the ensuing 18-foot putt for birdie. Zalatoris, meanwhile, found a greenside bunker and ended up bogeying down to 4 under.

Fitzpatrick said he caught a break after his wayward drive, with the ball sitting up "perfectly." The lie made all the difference for his second shot.

"It was one of the best shots I hit all day," he said. "It was a 5-iron from 220 (yards), and hitting it to 18 feet, it was a great shot. To do that and take advantage of the break that I had was fantastic."

Zalatoris bounced back with a birdie at the par-3 16th but couldn't complete the rally, finishing with a 69. He finished second for the second straight major after losing a playoff to Justin Thomas at last month's PGA Championship. It was his third runner-up at a major after also placing second at the 2021 Masters.

"I've just got to keep doing what I'm doing. I gotta keep knocking on the door," Zalatoris said. "Like I said earlier, the comfort level's there. I'm not afraid to be in the lead. I've got nothing to lose out here. So let's just keep doing what we're doing and eventually we're going to get one."

Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, wrapped up with a final-round 67. He charged ahead early with four birdies in his first six holes to take the lead at 6 under, where Fitzpatrick eventually matched him.

But for the second straight day, the Masters champion had trouble after the turn. He bogeyed No. 10 and three-putted for another bogey at No. 11. Several par saves later, Scheffler made a 6-foot birdie putt at No. 17 and got in at 5 under ahead of the final group's last hole.

"This week I hit some of the worst shots I've hit in my career and I've hit some of the best ones," Scheffler said. "So it was kind of a roller-coaster week and to be in it at the end was definitely a lot of fun. Unfortunately I just came up one shot short."

Denny McCarthy (68), Keegan Bradley (71) and Canada's Adam Hadwin (71) tied for seventh at 1 under. Gary Woodland (69) and Joel Dahmen (71) finished at even par and tied for 10th.