US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick has opened up about the recently announced Hero Cup, the match play event between Great Britain & Ireland and Continental Europe, and why a Ryder Cup partnership with Viktor Hovland never quite materialised.
The Hero Cup, which will take place at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in January 2023, shares similar characteristics to that of the Seve Trophy, which was last contested in 2013. Speaking of the event, the Englishman said: "I was talking with somebody earlier this year and said that it would be good to have practice of playing foursomes, playing fourballs with guys you potentially could play with in Ryder Cup."
"I think that's definitely important because I think it just gives you that experience of not playing your own ball," Fitzpatrick said.
"That's something I found I was really disappointed with and found difficult when we played at Whistling Straits. I was really up for playing with Viktor Hovland in the foursomes and that's kind of what we were down to do, and then we went out there, tried each other's ball, he hit mine and it was spinning all over the place and I hit his and there was no spin whatsoever.
"All of a sudden, that's a pairing that's just gone out the window without really knowing it. If we had known before about the ball, it probably would not have entered the conversation and things might have been different or we'd have played a different, played fourball instead or something. I think it's good to get that practice in and see what's going on"
The US Open champion is in the field at the DP World Tour's flagship BMW PGA Championship this week, his first event on English soil since the triumph at Brookline Country Club. He will then make the trip to Marco Simone Golf and Country Club on the outskirts of Rome for the Italian Open, and a first glimpse of the 2023 Ryder Cup venue.
