Fitzpatrick wins maiden title

European Tour

Matthew Fitzpatrick won his maiden European Tour title at the British Masters on Sunday.

The 21-year-old carded a three under 68 in the final round at Woburn Golf Club, which left him 15 under for the tournament, two strokes ahead of chasing trio Fabrizio Zanotti, Shane Lowry and Soren Kjeldsen.

The Englishman came into the back nine on even par for the round but lit up the course with some sultry golf in the final holes that included four birdies.

Fitzpatrick rolled in two birdie putts on the 11th and 12th to take the lead from Zanotti. The Paraguayan then slipped off the pace, carding back-to-back bogeys to give Fitzpatrick, his playing partner, a comfortable lead.

The man from Sheffield would extend his lead on the 15th, but Zanotti came back to within one of the lead with birdies on the 16th and 17th.

However, Fitzpatrick was not to be outdone and rolled in a pressure putt on the par three 17th to restore his two stroke lead going into the last hole.

Both players would find the same greenside bunker on the 18th. After Zanotti hit his bunker shot a bit too heavy, it was a simple chip and two-putt left for Fitzpatrick to claim a watershed victory.

"It's not going to sink in for a long time, I know that," he said after the win.

“It was a long day and I didn't really know what I had to do to win but I just sort of ground it out and managed to win. A great day.

"The fans have just been incredible to me and unbelievably supportive and I can't tell everyone how appreciative I am of that. Walking down every hole it's, 'Come on Matt' and it's amazing to have that support."

A host of players would finish tied for fifth on 11 under, including former number one Luke Donald, Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Marcus Fraser of Australia.

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