Matthew Fitzpatrick arrived at the 2024 Masters with the kind of momentum that turns heads. The Englishman, a former U.S. Open champion, was riding high after a strong start to the year. A fifth-place finish at The Players Championship and a T10 at the Valero Texas Open had him sitting comfortably inside the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings. His game seemed tailor-made for Augusta National — precise iron play, a reliable driver, and a putting stroke that had found its rhythm.
At 29, Fitzpatrick was no longer just a rising star; he was a legitimate contender with pundits whispering about his potential to don the green jacket and add a second major to his resume.
Fast forward a year, and the story has taken a stark turn. As the azaleas bloom once again at Augusta in April 2025, Fitzpatrick rolls into the Masters — fresh off a missed-cut at the Valero Texas Open — a shadow of that confident figure from 12 months prior. His world ranking has plummeted to decade-low 74, a decline that reflects a troubling slump in real time.
The sharp edges of his game have dulled, and the consistency that once defined him has given way to a string of lackluster performances.
What happened to the Sheffield (UK) native who seemed on the cusp of golfing greatness?
The slide began subtly after the 2024 Masters, where Fitzpatrick posted a respectable but unspectacular T22 finish. The result didn’t raise immediate alarms — Augusta is a beast that humbles even the best — but in hindsight, it marked the start of a downward trend.
His summer was marred by inconsistency. At the PGA Championship, he missed the cut, a rare stumble for a player of his caliber. The U.S. Open, the tournament of his 2022 triumph, offered little redemption with a T64 finish. By the time The Open Championship rolled around, Fitzpatrick’s struggles were impossible to ignore — a T50 left him visibly frustrated.
Off the course, Fitzpatrick has been candid about his challenges. Equipment woes, a recurring theme in his career, resurfaced in 2024. He’d battled driver issues earlier in the year, eventually finding a fix before the Masters, but new problems emerged with his irons later in the season.
“It’s been a grind,” he admitted after a disappointing fall stretch. “You think you’ve got it figured out, and then something else creeps in.”
His trademark attention to detail — once a strength — seemed to morph into overthinking, as he tinkered endlessly to recapture his form.
The numbers tell a grim tale. In 2024, even with a half season of struggle, Fitzpatrick ranked 23rd on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting, metrics that fueled his world top-ranked status.
By early 2025, those figures had eroded significantly, with his putting dropping outside the top 100 and his driving accuracy faltering. His iron play, long his calling card, lost its zip, leaving him unable to attack pins with the precision that once set him apart. Tournament results mirrored the decline: no top-10 finishes after May 2024, a stark contrast to the seven he notched in the prior 12 months.
After a T39 finish at the Genesis Scottish Open in July 2024, he described the season as “a slog,” his voice tinged with exhaustion. The pressure of maintaining elite status, ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup, compounded by the expectations of a home crowd that sees him as England’s golfing torchbearer, appeared to weigh heavily.
The mental toll has been evident. Fitzpatrick, a lifelong Sheffield United fan known for his grounded demeanor, has never been one to hide his emotions. After a missed-cut at The Players in March, Fitzpatrick split with his legendary caddie, Billy Foster.
“Well, after six great years all good things come to an end,” Foster said on social media. “This game never stops to frustrate you and infuriate you!
“Unfortunately, times change and ultimately it is the caddie or the coach that has to accept results are not good enough and when you stop enjoying what you are doing, it is time for a change. Thanks Matt, we had a great run and who knows where the next chapter will go. Onwards and upwards.”
Following a few weeks to cooling off, Fitzpatrick showed up at the Texas Open last week with a new caddie in tow, Daniel Parratt. He proceeded to shoot rounds of 76 and 72 to miss the cut by six strokes.
Despite the result in San Antonio, there’s a flicker of hope as he arrives in Georgia: Fitzpatrick’s history at the Masters is solid — three top-15 finishes in his last five starts suggest he knows how to navigate its quirks. At 30, he remains in his prime, and his meticulous nature (he’s created a handwritten log of every shot he’s hit) could still turn the tide.
“I’ve been here before,” he said in a press conference last week, referencing past dips he’s overcome. “It’s about finding that spark again.”
Whether that spark ignites amid the pines of Augusta remains to be seen, but for now, Matthew Fitzpatrick’s slump is a reminder of golf’s unrelenting demands — even for a major champion.
