ENGLAND'S FITZPATRICK WINS US AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Matt Fitzpatrick with the magnificent US Amateur Championship trophy: 
Picture by courtesy of Getty Images (c)

 FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By JAMES CORRIGAN
The doors to “golfing heaven” swung open for Matt Fitzpatrick on Sunday night when he became England’s first winner of the US Amateur Championship since Harold Hilton 102 years ago.
The 18-year-old Fitzpatrick’s 4 and 3 victory over Australia’s Ollie Goss followed on from the success of Royal Aberdeen’s Richie Ramsay in 2006 and earned him a place in next year’s Masters, Open and US Open.

“As everyone says, Augusta is golfing heaven and to get in the other majors is unbelievable as well,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s virtually impossible to get a game at Augusta. This was my best opportunity.”

Harold Hilton, arguably Britain’s greatest amateur, is not the worst player for Fitzpatrick, who impressed everyone at Brookline, Massachusetts, with his wonderful short-game, to emulate. By the time he won the US Amateur in 1911, Hilton had already won the Open on two occasions.

Fitzpatrick , who learned his golf at Hallamshire, was one up at lunch and despite three-putting the first hole of his second round quickly reclaimed the advantage and never looked back. Aptly, he holed an eight-footer for par to claim the title.

One of the first to send his congratulations was Luke Donald. Fitzpatrick has been compared to the former world No 1, not just because of his touch around the greens, but also because he will attend Donald’s old Chicago college, Northwestern, in the autumn.

Before then, Fitzpatrick, as the world’s No 1 amateur, will spearhead Great Britain and Ireland’s attempt to retain the Walker Cup in Long Island next month. What a year it has been for the Yorkshireman , who won the leading amateur honours at last month’s Open at Muirfield.
Last year, Fitzpatrick won the British Boys’ Championship. On Sunday that competition was won by the 16-year-old Scot Ewen Ferguson, who beat Germany’s Michael Hirmer 10 & 9 in the 36-hole final.