Matt Fitzpatrick inspired by St Andrews Boys' Open success as he returns for Claret Jug

It was described as a “junior thing”. The event in question was actually the St Andrews Boys’ Open and it holds special memories for Matthew Fitzpatrick.

US Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick during his pre-150th Open press conference at St Andrews. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

Back in 2008, the Englishman won the handicap section of the prestigious event. “Last year,” he said, laughing, in reply to being asked when that was, having retained his boyish looks,

Fitzpatrick is back in St Andrews for the 150th Open. As the US Open champion, he’s one of the leading contenders to claim the Claret Jug in the event’s milestone edition.

“I'll be honest, back then I was blown away,” he said, recalling that first experience of playing in the Fife town. “It's like, wow, St Andrews, the Old Course, it's incredible.

“Genuinely, I was so excited, I wanted to make the match play just to play the golf course. That was probably when I was playing more links golf.”

He’s more used to PGA Tour-style courses these days, singling out Harbor Town, Augusta and Brookline, where he made his major breakthrough last month.

“I've kind of grown out enjoying links,” he admitted. “I enjoy the challenge of it when it's windy and it's hard and you've got to grind.

“When it's really hard, it's harder for everyone else. That's kind of why I enjoy the challenge more, I guess.”

In a breezy Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, Fitzpatrick finished sixth behind Xander Schauffele on Sunday. “To be honest, I was surprised that two level-pars (over the weekend) kind of kept me sixth,” he said. “I was happy with the result.”

At the same time, he said that he needs to sharpen up some things with coach Mike Walker for his bid to claim back-to-back majors.

“I didn't hit good shots into the wind, I didn't do that very well at all last week and it's something that I told Mike that I wanted to work on this week,” he said.

Fitzpatrick revealed that Billy Foster, his trusty caddie, had been asked what he thought the winning total might be this week. “18 (under), which to me I was like, that's low,” he said of what the answer had been.