Fitzpatrick lowers Masters expectations
After winning last year's US Open at Brookline, Matt Fitzpatrick might have been viewed as a contender at this week's Masters, but the Englishman is lowering expectations after an injury-plagued start to the year.
Fitzpatrick said he suffered a neck injury before January's Pebble Beach Pro-Am and then shoulder and chest pain at the PGA Genesis Invitational at Riviera led him to get a scan which revealed a "slight disk bulge."
The Yorkshireman accepts he underestimated the seriousness of the injury and as he has tried to refind his fitness and form, his results have predictably fallen off.
"The timing of it put me straight behind the 8-ball. All of a sudden, the work I had done in the off-season just became non-existent," Fitzpatrick said.
"I wasn't moving as well as I needed to, swinging as well as I needed to, and it has just been kind of compounding of errors, really. Because of my neck, then I've not been able to swing it, and then my swing has changed, kind of compensating."
Fitzpatrick missed the cut at the Players Championship and Valspar Championship last month.
"It's difficult. I've never had an injury like this," he said. "Normally if my neck has flared up, I've been over it in two or three days and I'm back to normal. Obviously this one has been a lot longer.
"Definitely, I am sort of feeling better now and getting there. But I feel like, certainly over the last two months, I've lost a lot of ground and definitely regressed quite a lot.
"So we're back to the bottom again and just slowly trying to build it back up. Slowly getting there, but it's just going to take time."
Not surprisingly, the 28-year-old is keeping his goals modest for the Masters.
"Making a cut would be a good start probably," Fitzpatrick said. "But I think that is something I've kind of done a little bit of work on myself to try and say, 'Well, it's early in the season. This is where I'm at with my game.' My expectations have got to match that.
"My expectations in previous years, throughout my whole career, have been very high. I felt given the work that I put into my game, that's where I want to be.
"I definitely feel better physically. I definitely feel better mentally. I feel like my game is kind of slowly getting there, but at the same time I'm still in an early rebuild phase of getting stronger and swinging it better.
"I think it's kind of just trying to keep my expectations at the right level to match where I'm currently at with my game."
-
科创筑梦树立远大志向 蓄势赋能培养科技人才This summer expected to be hotter than usual: KMAWhen is it OK to talk about being horny?2月雅安工业生产者出厂价格(PPI)环比下跌1.3%[Exclusive] Samsung unsure of Suga's future as brand ambassador: sourceBrazilian green H2 plant to (briefly) be world's biggest CO2 reducer家园更美丽 百姓更幸福Very obedient dog waits patiently outside cafe that doesn't allow pupsAlcaraz vs. Van de Zandschulp 2024 livestream: Watch US Open for free【“教育世家,家风传承”系列报道(二)】传三代家风 承良师美德
- ·共同推动雅安职工思想政治引领数智化发展工作做深做实
- ·【“教育世家,家风传承”系列报道(二)】传三代家风 承良师美德
- ·Over 60% of South Korean youth say unification with North Korea. necessary: survey
- ·'I dream about it like a maniac' says Warholm
- ·Echo Dot (5th gen) deal — get it for $29.99 at Amazon
- ·Here's what James Comey's memoir says about Trump, “pee tape” included.
- ·'North Korea low on daily necessities after shutting down borders'
- ·发展森林康养 带动地方发展
- ·[Exclusive] Samsung unsure of Suga's future as brand ambassador: source
- ·Guy at World Cup lights his cigarette with a literal flaming wallet
- ·Energy ministry unveils document to calm dispute over North Korea reactor plan
- ·Over 60% of South Korean youth say unification with North Korea. necessary: survey
- ·Netanyahu’s Inferno
- ·“90后”大学生回乡创业 深耕故土搞养殖 带领乡亲同致富
- ·Pentagon concerned by UN report indicating possible North Korea nuclear reprocessing
- ·Apple's clever (and kind of risky) plan to dominate the week before its big event
- ·US to oppose North Korean worker dispatch to occupied Ukrainian territory: State Dept.
- ·In Iowa, Eric Garcetti tries to sell Hollywood to the Heartland.
- ·Tesla reveals the Model Y, its new mid
- ·普及血管外科知识 为血管健康保驾护航
- ·How do you make safe, cheap nuclear reactors? Bury them a mile deep
- ·Internet providers block sites that host Christchurch terror attack video
- ·Sanctions not sole reason for humanitarian crisis in North Korea: unification ministry
- ·Katherine Johnson, NASA mathematician and subject of 'Hidden Figures,' dead at 101
- ·Black Friday GPU Buying Guide: November GPU Pricing Update
- ·Internet providers block sites that host Christchurch terror attack video
- ·Best Home Depot Labor Day sale deals
- ·商贩占道经营 污染环境又扰民
- ·'I dream about it like a maniac' says Warholm
- ·S. Korea's health minister to meet with US health secretary
- ·'Please find her': Man dies amid 25
- ·All the weirdest beauty trends 2018 has given us so far
- ·Ivanka Trump slammed for gross, opportunistic tweet over immigration
- ·Satellite images show North Korea built structure to conceal nuclear weapons site: CNN
- ·CrowdStrike outage is still causing hundreds of flight cancellations daily
- ·我市“十三五”单位地区生产总值能耗累计下降13.71%