By Ross Mazin
Matt Fitzpatrick is your 2022 U.S. Open winner and deserves a big round of applause. Fitzpatrick wasn’t on my or anyone else’s radar going into this year’s U.S Open. This U.S Open was Fitzpatrick’s first significant win in the PGA. He also won the U.S. Amateur championship. Before this tournament, Fitzpatrick was always on the outside looking in, but now, he will always be on the inside looking out.
This year’s U.S Open was held at the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. This is one of the easier courses for the U.S Open in recent years. It does have its challenging holes on this famous golf course such as hole 3 and 7 as they seemed to be the most challenging. The weather always plays a factor in its location, and this past weekend it was windy. The course gave everyone trouble this weekend, as by the end of the second round, most of the notable golfers either missed the cut or withdrew.
This is the first time the course has hosted the Open since hosting it back in 1913. The last tournament the course hosted, another major PGA event, was the Ryder Cup in 1999. The last U.S. Open held at the Country Club was in 1913. The heavy favorites to win were Harry Vardon and Ted Ray. Vardon won the U.S Open back in 1900. Ray was the reigning British Open champion. What makes this an important note is that an Amateur golfer by the name of Francis Ouimet played a role in the greatest game ever played, and in the end, Ouimet beats the favorites of Vardon and Ray. There is a Disney movie made called The Greatest Game Ever Played, and it stars Shia Labouef as Ouimet. It is a great underdog story and very factual about Ouimet’s life and what he had to accomplish is just short of impossible.
The next tournament is the Travelers Championship. It will be missing a lot of top golfers as they have been leaving the PGA to play in the LIV. Brooks Koopeka was the latest to jump ship, and I expect a lot more before this week is over. I am picking Scottie Scheffler to be this tournament winner.
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