For the first time in professional golf history, two brothers won on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour in back-to-back weeks.
On March 22, Matt Fitzpatrick drained a 14-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Innisbrook Resort's infamous Copperhead Course to win the Valspar Championship by one stroke over David Lipsky. One week later, younger brother Alex Fitzpatrick claimed his maiden DP World Tour title at the Hero Indian Open in India, overcoming a six-shot deficit in the final round with eight birdies to win by two over defending champion Eugenio López-Chacarra.
"I'll try and explain without crying," Alex said after his victory. "It's been a lot of hard work."
Two brothers. Two continents. Two victories. One historic week. And at the heart of both wins: a short game built on the same principles, passed down through the same family, and sharpened through the same relentless approach to putting practice.
Matt's Clutch Putt: How the Valspar Was Won
The Valspar Championship is one of the PGA Tour's toughest tests. Copperhead's closing stretch — known as the "Snake Pit" (holes 16-18) — has destroyed final-round hopes for decades. Matt Fitzpatrick navigated it with just three birdies all day, but the one that mattered came at the last: a 14-foot putt that broke slightly left to right, dropping into the center of the cup for a one-shot victory.
It wasn't a lucky roll. That putt was the product of years of technical work with his putting coach, Phil Kenyon — widely regarded as one of the best putting instructors in the world. Matt's ability to perform under pressure on the greens is no accident. It's engineered.
Alex's Comeback: Eight Birdies to a Maiden Title
If Matt's win was a masterclass in nerve, Alex's was a masterclass in momentum. Starting the final round six shots behind López-Chacarra at the DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurugram, India, nobody expected a charge. Then Alex reeled off eight birdies starting from hole 6 — an extraordinary stretch of scoring that flipped the leaderboard as the defending champion collapsed with a final-round 75.
Even a double bogey on 18 couldn't derail it. Alex shot 69 to López-Chacarra's 75, winning by two strokes on 9-under par in his 87th DP World Tour start. The victory earned him €375,811 and jumped him to 6th in the Race to Dubai — a top-10 finish earns a PGA Tour card for 2027.
The Fitzpatrick family had two tour winners in seven days. Golf had never seen anything like it.
The Fitzpatrick Putting System: What Both Brothers Share
Matt and Alex grew up at Hallamshire Golf Club in Sheffield, England — practicing on the same greens, competing against each other since childhood. While their full swings differ (Matt is more compact, Alex longer through the ball), their short games share the same DNA. Here are the principles that define how both Fitzpatricks putt.
1. Relaxed Setup — Feel Over Tension
Matt is vocal about this: tension kills putting. "I see too many tour pros and amateurs who look so stiff and rigid at set-up," he told Today's Golfer. "From there you lose all concept of feel and flow."
His approach is simple:
- Soften your knees slightly
- Let your arms hang naturally
- Don't overcomplicate your thoughts once you're over the ball
This mirrors what we see in the best putters across all tours — a quiet body that lets the stroke flow. If you feel rigid over your putts, you're fighting yourself before the ball even moves. Check our putting alignment and setup guide for the full breakdown on building a relaxed, repeatable address position.
2. Pressure Practice — See Putts Drop
"There's really no better way to practise than seeing your putts go in," Matt says. His approach to short-range putting is built on high repetitions from inside 6 feet — all breaking putts, all directions around the hole. He keeps a record of how many he makes, tracking progress over time.
This isn't mindless rolling. It's deliberate pressure practice: set a target number, track your makes, and hold yourself accountable. When Alex came through the heat of a final-round charge in India — making birdie after birdie with the tournament on the line — that came from thousands of reps where making the putt was the standard, not the exception.
You can build the same clutch putting confidence at home with a simple pressure ladder drill: make 3 in a row from 3 feet, then 4 feet, then 5. Miss? Start over.
3. Alignment Is Everything
"Getting your alignment right is the single most important thing in putting," Matt says. He relies heavily on the sightline on his putter and the line on his ball — he's lined up his ball from a very young age and credits it as fundamental to starting putts on line.
Matt works with a Visio Mi Putting Template — a calibration tool that mirrors his stroke arc and lets him practice within consistent parameters. He uses it every morning before tournament rounds: just 10-15 putts to calibrate. "It's the best training aid I've ever come across," he says.
You don't need a tour-level template to train alignment. A simple gate drill with two tees creates the same feedback loop — if your face is off at impact, you'll know instantly.
4. Tempo Over Stroke Length
Matt doesn't obsess over backstroke length — and neither should you. "I think people get too hung up on their length of stroke," he says, noting that tour players range from very short to very long strokes, and both can be equally effective.
What matters more is tempo and acceleration profile. The putter should accelerate smoothly through the ball without any jerky transition between backswing and forward stroke. Matt practices this with a simple drill: place a coin on the back of your putter and hit putts. The coin should stay on during the backswing and fall away only as you transition forward. If it falls off early, your tempo is off.
Five minutes of this drill builds the consistent delivery that leads to reliable distance control — the skill that separates good putters from great ones.
5. Cross-Handed Chipping — Matt's Secret Weapon
One of the most distinctive parts of Matt Fitzpatrick's short game is his cross-handed chipping technique. He grips the club left-hand-low (same as a left-hand-low putting grip) for all his chip shots around the green.
Why? As he explained to Golf.com: "It feels like there's always a straight line from my shoulder all the way to the clubhead. With the normal grip, the radius would get really narrow — with cross-handed, it's always staying the same."
The benefits for amateur golfers are significant:
- Squares the shoulders — eliminates the open-shoulder position that causes thin chips
- Removes excess wrist action — the biggest cause of duffs and chunks
- Creates a pendulum motion — essentially a putting stroke with loft
- Consistent contact — the clubhead maintains a constant arc radius
If you struggle with chipping consistency, this is worth trying. Set up your chipping mat and hit 20 chips cross-handed. Most golfers notice cleaner contact immediately.
Matt's Equipment: The Bettinardi BB1 Fitz
Matt Fitzpatrick's relationship with his putter is one of the most meticulous in professional golf. He originally used a Yes! Tracy II putter from age 16 — when the brand went out of business, he resorted to buying backup putters on eBay. Bettinardi then spent five years and nearly 30 prototypes to create his perfect putter.
His current gamer: the Bettinardi DASS BB1 Fitz
- Material: Double Aged Stainless Steel (DASS)
- Style: Blade with flow neck hosel
- Weight: 346g (precise — zero tolerance)
- Offset: One-sixth of a shaft (unusually specific)
- Finish: Polished silver topline, black body
- Face: Proto Roll Control milling
"Matt can tell between the smallest changes in feel, sound and shape," says Bettinardi's Sam Bettinardi. "He notices everything."
You don't need a custom Bettinardi to putt well — but the lesson is clear: your putter should feel right in your hands. If it doesn't inspire confidence at address, no amount of technique will help. Explore different grip styles in our complete putting grip guide to find what works for your stroke.
5 Fitzpatrick Drills You Can Practice at Home
Drill 1: The 6-Footer Circle
Place 8-10 balls in a circle around the hole, all at 5-6 feet. Putt them all. Track how many you make. Matt does this regularly — it builds confidence from the most critical distance in golf (inside 6 feet is where scoring happens).
Drill 2: The Coin Tempo Drill
Balance a coin on the back of your putter head. Make smooth strokes — the coin should stay on during the backswing and fall away naturally during the forward transition. Five minutes of this trains the smooth tempo Matt prioritizes.
Drill 3: The Cross-Handed Chip
Grab your pitching wedge and switch to a left-hand-low grip (right hand on top for right-handers). Chip 20 balls to a target. Notice how your contact becomes cleaner and more consistent immediately. This is Matt's actual technique — not a drill, but a permanent grip change worth testing.
Drill 4: The Pressure Ladder
Start at 3 feet. Make 3 in a row. Move to 4 feet. Make 3 in a row. Continue until you miss — then restart from 3 feet. This builds the resilience Alex showed when making 8 birdies under final-round pressure in India.
Drill 5: The Alignment Check
Place a ruler or alignment stick on your putting mat. Set your ball on the line. Practice starting every putt directly over the stick. Matt says alignment is the single most important factor in putting — this drill makes misalignment impossible to ignore.
The Fitzpatrick Family Blueprint
What makes the Fitzpatrick brothers' back-to-back victories so compelling isn't just the historical rarity — it's the proof that great short games are built, not born. Matt and Alex grew up on the same greens, competed against each other from childhood, and both developed putting games rooted in the same principles: relaxed setup, pressure practice, precise alignment, and smooth tempo.
Matt's 14-foot birdie putt to win the Valspar wasn't magic. Alex's eight birdies in India weren't a fluke. They were the product of thousands of hours of deliberate putting practice — the kind anyone can do at home with the right surface and the right drills.
The Chiputt Tour-Grade Putting Mat gives you that surface: stimpmeter 10 speed, real stainless steel cups, and 0.6-inch thick turf that supports tee gate drills for alignment training. Pair it with the included chipping mat to practice Matt's cross-handed technique, and you've got the complete Fitzpatrick short game station.
Two brothers proved this week that the short game is where championships are won. Start building yours →
