Matt Fitzpatrick downplays his Masters hopes after an injured start to the season

Matt Fitzpatrick joked that ‘making a cut’ would mean success for him at this year’s Masters after revealing he was playing through pain following a neck injury.

The Sheffield-born reigning US Open champion had a brilliant 2022 and was arguably one of the favorites at Augusta.

However, he didn’t repeat that scintillating form this year and went into depth about the reasons why.

“I literally hurt my neck right before I went to Pebble (Beach) at the end of January,” explains the 28-year-old. “And then I started to get a feeling over my shoulder and in my chest. I went straight to the hospital in LA to get an MRI and it was a slight disc bulge.”

Fitzpatrick added that the injury prevented him from training for three weeks and that his off-season work was “no more” as he played through the pain barrier. “Because of my neck, I couldn’t swing it, and then my swing changed, kind of compensation.”

The Yorkshireman has struggled in recent tournaments following a neck injury

The Yorkshireman had had a career without major health problems.

“It’s hard,” he said. “I’ve never had an injury like this before. Normally, if my neck flares up, I’ll get over it in two or three days and be back to normal. This one is clearly much longer.’

However, Fitzpatrick did not turn to caddy Billy Foster for support.

“Definitely not Billy, because Billy was like, ‘Oh, just go ahead!'” he joked. “But my coach, Mike Walker, has been fantastic about that. I also work with a psychologist in the UK, Robbie.” Anderson, and he’s been very helpful too.”

A candid Fitzpatrick was realistic when asked about his chances given the injury he has now recovered from.

“I feel, especially in the last two months, that I’ve lost a lot of ground and definitely dropped back quite a bit. So it’s kind of like we’re back at square one and slowly trying to build it back up. It’s just going to take time.

He added, “Making a cut would probably be a good start! I definitely feel better physically. I definitely feel better mentally. I feel like my game is slowly coming along, but at the same time I’m still in an early phase of, in fact, a rebuilding phase to get stronger and swing better.’