Nothing says “Ryder Cup season is almost here” like a little last-minute tinkering at the top of the bag. This week, it’s Matt Fitzpatrick making changes to his driver.
The 2022 U.S. Open champ rolled into the Betfred British Masters at The Belfry with a shiny new driver, and wouldn’t you know it, the thing’s actually working. Fitzpatrick, 30, has slotted himself inside the top 10 early in the week, and suddenly this experiment doesn’t look like a gamble so much as a calculated tune-up with Bethpage Black looming just around the corner.
Here’s the setup: Fitzpatrick isn’t automatically qualified for Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup team, but nobody expects him to be left off that roster. With six captain’s picks coming September 1, he’s as close to a lock as you can get without being inked in already. So while he’s still chasing silverware on the DP World Tour, he’s really playing for September. And for him, the driver isn’t just a club—it’s a ticket to being a weapon in New York.
Now, the path to this current club is a little twisty. At last week’s BMW Championship in Maryland, Fitzpatrick was gaming a Titleist GT2 early, then pivoted mid-tournament into a Titleist TSI model with a little fade bias, grinding his way to a T17 finish. Not bad, but not enough to punch a spot into the Tour Championship—he finished 34th in FedEx Cup points, narrowly missing out. That disappointment, though, opened the door for him to tee it up at The Belfry for the first time ever.
Fitzpatrick Moves to the Titleist GT3
This week was another change. Fitzpatrick has moved to the Titleist GT3, a setup giving him a slightly lower, more penetrating ball flight—exactly the kind of shape you’ll need when Bethpage Black starts baring its teeth. According to Sky’s Ken Brown, Fitzpatrick literally put this driver in play the same day he pulled the plastic off. No deep testing, no months of fine-tuning—just “let’s see what happens.” And so far? It’s happening.
Of course, he’s not the only European making changes. Justin Rose, fresh off winning the FedEx St. Jude, also flipped his driver to a brand-new setup—proving even seasoned vets aren’t afraid to roll the dice this close to Ryder Cup season.
For Fitzpatrick, the equation is simple: if this new driver holds up at The Belfry and again next week at the Omega European Masters, it’s coming with him to New York. And with Bethpage demanding long, straight, punishing drives, finding the right weapon now might make all the difference when Europe tees it up against Team USA.
