‘It was a bit c***’ – Matthew Fitzpatrick responds to losing out at the Italian Open
Matthew Fitzpatrick described his defeat to Bernd Wiesberger at the Italian Open as ‘a bit crap’ after he missed out by a single shot in Rome.
Austrian Wiesberger went into the final round three shots behind Fitzpatrick, but carded a fine 65 to overturn the deficit.
Fitzpatrick had started the day with a one-shot lead but a double-bogey after going out of bounds off the tee on the ninth proved costly.
The Yorkshireman picked up three shots on the back nine to finish but could only par the last after leaving himself 35 feet for a birdie that would have moved him to 15 under and into a play-off.
“It was a bit crap,” he told europeantour.com after carding a closing 69. “To lose by one is obviously very disappointing.
“I think I’ve played well when I’ve been up there on a Sunday, just other people really keep grinding and I keep coming up from behind.
“It is what it is. It’s still a great week, I’m here to win and not here to just make up the numbers.”
Wiesberger made a hat-trick of birdies from the fifth and added another on the ninth to share the lead before Fitzpatrick’s error left him two ahead.
Excellent tee-shots on the 14th and 16th handed the the 34-year-old two more birdies and a 16-under total.
Wiesberger missed the last seven months of the 2018 season with a wrist injury but now sits at the top of the Race to Dubai and has a flying start in his quest to make a Ryder Cup debut in 2020.
“It’s been a great summer for me,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of good golf shown and a lot of progress after coming back from the last year.
“I’ve won three times this year and it’s been the same every time, I’ve just really enjoyed my time and I’m positive to be back out there because I know how tough it was when I had to withdraw from these great events.”
American Kurt Kitayama finished at 12 under, a shot clear of England’s Andrew Johnston, Scot Robert MacIntyre and Austria’s Matthias Schwab.
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