New Orleans, Louisiana – The Fitzpatrick brothers pull off an improbable victory and take home the hardware as the 2026 Zurich Classic of new Orleans Champions. While Matt Fitzpatrick is well known in most golf circles, his brother, and playing partner, Alex Fitzpatrick is not nearly as famous. With the win, Alex gains an incredible career changing two year exemption onto the PGA Tour.
The Zurich Classic is hosted every year by TPC Louisiana where PGA Tour players can team up for a week of competition in the bayou. This has become notable for offering a lifeline to players who maybe otherwise couldn’t win on the PGA Tour on their own. Not only does it carry the two year exemption for both players, but it also comes with a $1.37 million purse for each player. A real career changer for someone like Alex who only recently won for the first time on the DP World Tour and had limited status.
Some might say that this event has a weaker field and shouldn’t give a team event a two year exemption for the winners but it certainly isn’t an easy task to win at the highest level no matter the event format. Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka failed to even make the cut this week as partners and they have six majors between the two of them. Tony Finau and Max Greyserman teamed up and also missed the cut.
The two teams that did give the Fitzpatrick’s the most competition were Kristoffer Reitan and Kristoffer Ventura and the team of Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer. Smalley and Springer actually had the low round and led the tournament after the first round but followed it up with one of the worst scores in the field for round two. While the team of Kristoffers played consistent golf all week, they never could quite catch up to the Fitzpatricks.
Ultimately, the three contending teams all came down to the last hole when Matt Fitzpatrick made a great sand save to make birdie. This helped secure a one shot victory over the other two teams at 31 under par. This is Matt’s fifth PGA Tour victory and 14th professional win. This is Alex Fitzpatrick’s first win on the PGA Tour and his second win on a major tour.
Matt Fitzpatrick’s What’s In The Bag:
Driver: Titleist GT3 (9°) / Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Orange 65 TX
3 Wood: TaylorMade Qi35 (15°) / Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Orange 75 TX
5 Wood: TaylorMade Qi35 (18°) / Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Orange 75 TX
Irons: Ping i210 (4), Ping S55 (5-9) / Project X LZ 6.5
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48° 10F, 52° 12F, 56° 08M, 60° 08M playing at 61.5°) / True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S300
Putter: Bettinardi BB1 Fitz
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Alex Fitzpatrick’s What’s In The Bag:
DRIVER: Ping G440 LST 9 degrees (Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X)
FAIRWAY WOODS: TaylorMade Qi4D 15 degrees (Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X) 21 degrees (Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX) 24 degrees (Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX)
IRONS: Titleist T100 (5-9) (Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 X)
WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 46, 50, 56, 60 degrees (Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 X)
PUTTER: Odyssey Ai-One #7S
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
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