LOS ANGELES – One of the defining moments of this year’s US Open came on Friday morning when Matt Fitzpatrick grabbed the 15th.
The defending champion could not see his ball enter the hole. Only a roar from the crowd alerted Fitzpatrick that he was going to write 1 on the scorecard.
A day later, Fitzpatrick criticized the Los Angeles faithful — or their lack of attendance.
“Too bad…it’s disappointing from the USGA,” said Fitzpatrick. He said to the bar stool and Sports Illustrated on the atmosphere of the US Open.
Full US Open scores
“They want a big tournament – from what I’ve heard a lot of members have bought tickets and that’s why there are fewer people. I hope it’s different for US Opens in the future.”
Fitzpatrick also had a few choice words for the course itself, describing the LACC as “interesting, to be polite.”
“There are a lot of holes for me where you have blind tee shots and then you have fairways that don’t catch the ball. There’s a lot of gradation,” he said. “Some of the tee shots are fair — I think a little unfair. You hit a good shot and ended up on the ground with a foot, and then snapped. »
Fitzpatrick’s comments came on the heels of Brooks Koepka saying Friday, “I’m not a huge fan of this one.” Koepka had similar reservations about Fitzpatrick, citing blind tee shots and fairways that drive shots from different fairways to similar end results.
Victor Hovland joined the two main champions with similar displeasure on Saturday.
“I’m not a huge fan of this golf course, to be honest. I think there are good holes. I don’t think there are any big holes. I think there are some bad ones,” Hovland said.
Meanwhile, Hovland and Fitzpatrick both had strong performances on Saturday. Hovland scored 69 to bring his championship total to 2-under, while Fitzpatrick put his 68 goals to put the defending champion to 1-under.
