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Gold Nuggets from the Golden Bear! Matt Fitzpatrick reveals he switched to heavier grips on the advice of golf legend Jack Nicklaus, as the 28-year-old impressed at the Sentry Tournament of Champions
- Matt Fitzpatrick reaches the final round of the Tournament of Champions in second place
- The Briton rises to number nine in the world ranking after an excellent 2022
- He has revealed changes to his technique after talks with Jack Nicklaus.
- Fitzpatrick said he felt “very, very lucky to have spoken with” the legendary golfer.
In his endless exploration of golf and its quirks, Matt Fitzpatrick revealed that he has been mining for gold nuggets from the Golden Bear.
Based on his form in the last week in Hawaii, the friendship he has developed with Jack Nicklaus is certainly helping him on the course.
As it turns out, luncheons and practice rounds between the two at Nicklaus’s Bear’s Club in Florida have been a regular topic since last January.
Matt Fitzpatrick reaches the final round of the Tournament of Champions in second place
The Briton rises to number nine in the world ranking after an excellent 2022
The upshot of those conversations is that Fitzpatrick, an obsessive hoarder of details in the name of progress, has adopted advice from the 18-time major winner to better fade his ball. He has led the 28-year-old Englishman to add eight grams of weight to the grips of his irons.
And it has worked wonders on the severe inclines of the Kapalua course at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, with the world number 9 second only to runaway leader Collin Morikawa going into the final round.
It’s strong early evidence in the first of the PGA Tour’s ‘elevated’ events that Fitzpatrick has carried his 2022 form into the new year. Speaking about his modified method and his lunch with the 82-year-old Nicklaus, Fitzpatrick said, “The changes to my irons have been positive — we put weights in the grip to make them fade a little more.”
He has revealed changes to his technique after chats with golf legend Jack Nicklaus.
“I spoke to Mr. Nicklaus about it because someone told me that he did it. I asked him and we had a talk about it and why he did it.
‘I feel very, very lucky to have spoken to him. I have spent a lot of time with him, particularly in January of last year.
‘I had the whole of January off, so I was practicing at the Bear’s Club. I ended up having lunch with him three or four times and we just chatted about life and golf and stuff.
“It’s a dream for me growing up to be able to talk to someone like that, one of the best, if not the best, to ever play the game.”