BROOKLINE, Mass. - One hundred years after British superstars Harry Vardon and Ted Ray stopped at The Country Club on their unsuccessful victory tour, Matt Fitzpatrick finished the job.
Fitzpatrick won the U.S. Amateur on Sunday, beating Australian Oliver Goss 4 and 3 in the 36-hole final Sunday to become the event's first English champion since 1911. The 18-year-old soon-to-be Northwestern freshman is the first foreigner to win any major USGA event at The Country Club, a streak that grew into a legend when Francis Ouimet beat Vardon and Ray there in the 1913 U.S. Open.
"It's fantastic and it's nice to be the first (in) a while," Fitzpatrick said. "I guess it's great to go down in history. That's sort of what everyone wants in golf, wants to achieve."
Fitzpatrick never trailed in the final match, taking the lead for good on the second hole of the afternoon round - the 20th of the day - and going 2 up one hole later.
It's the first time Englishmen have won the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur in the same calendar year.