Matt Fitzpatrick has admitted his form must improve if there is any chance of him making the Ryder Cup team in September.
The 30-year-old, who impressed in Europe’s decisive victory in Rome in 2023, has endured a frustrating season.
The former US Open champion missed the cut at the Players Championship before finishing in 40th at The Masters in April and currently sits in 84th in the Official World Golf Rankings and 127th in the FedEx standings.
Last month the Englishman, who has represented Europe at the Ryder Cup three times, described his form as ‘rubbish’ and ‘the worst I’ve ever played’.
He is competing at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow next week, as he looks to make a push for Luke Donald’s side.
Fitzpatrick told MailOnline: ‘Hopefully I can make the team. It’s still a long way off and there are plenty of tournaments in between to play well and to try and achieve it.
Fitzpatrick says his form must improve if he wants to make Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup team
Fitzpatrick, who impressed in Europe’s decisive victory in 2023, has endured a tough season
The 30-year-old has competed for Europe in the Ryder Cup on three previous occasions
‘I need to definitely improve my results up until then. But it’s always the goal to make that team, so we’ll have to see.’
The Sheffield native, who won the RBC Heritage in 2023, has not placed inside the top 10 of a PGA Tour event since June 2024 and in 2025, he is yet to finish inside the top 20.
‘My game is not really where I want it at the minute this year. I had high expectations going into the season of where I wanted to go and to not have achieved it is always disappointing,’ he said.
‘But hopefully I’ve turned a corner over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully now I can kick on and give myself a good chance for the rest of the year.’
Fitzpatrick recently ended a six-year partnership with caddie Billy Foster after a slow start to the season.
The Yorkshire pair’s 2022 US Open win marked Foster’s first major success in a career spanning more than four decades.
Foster, one of the sport’s most respected bagmen, had previously caddied for golfing greats Seve Ballesteros, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood.
Speaking about ending their partnership, Foster said: ‘It was a bit disappointing but he’s been playing poorly.’
The former US Open champion missed the cut at the Players Championship in March
He ended a six-year partnership with caddie Billy Foster after a slow start to the season
Fitzpatrick said he has been pleased with his driving but has struggled with his short game
This season Fitzpatrick has been pleased with his driving although he revealed he has ‘struggled’ with his short game.
‘My driving’s going well. It’s been consistent. I’m happy about that,’ he said.
‘My irons and short game haven’t been sharp enough as well as my putting. My putting has been a good strength of mine throughout my whole career and this year I’ve really struggled.
‘I’ve not holed as many putts and when you’re not doing that it’s hard to keep any momentum on your rounds. The combination of those three has made it really difficult to have good results.’
Earlier this year, Fitzpatrick competed in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s tech-infused TGL, which he described as ‘awesome’ and ‘something completely different’.
He believes the golfing schedule is oversaturated and different formats are needed to keep fans interested.
‘There’s too many golf tournaments. People get a bit sick of golf in my opinion,’ he said.
‘It’s on every week and people need to be informed on what is happening each week. If you had a shorter season I think more people would be interested in watching it.
‘It creates more of a demand. Different formats [do] too. They played a pairs format at Zurich. I played with my brother which was great fun. Doing that gives you that experience of something different for fans to get involved with. It definitely needs to keep changing.’
Matt Fitzpatrick spoke to MailOnline as the cover star for PGA Tour 2K25 which will see Season 2 launch on May 14, 2025.
