Matt Fitzpatrick admits low expectations for The 151st Open

Matt Fitzpatrick has plenty to be excited about ahead of The Open Championship this week.

He arrived at Royal Liverpool ranked in the top 10 in the world. He has an opportunity to become the first Englishman to win The Open on home soil since Tony Jacklin 54 years ago. And his brother, Alex, is in the field after going through qualifying.

However, there are two key factors weighing on Matt Fitzpatrick. The 27-year-old hasn't been playing well of late, and he's not particularly fond of links golf courses.

Fitzpatrick headed to Hoylake, the home of Royal Liverpool, a few days early after missing the cut at last week's Scottish Open, which was his first start since a T49 at the Travelers Championship last month. And his best Open result to date is a T20 at Royal Portrush in 2019.

"Arguably, The Open is my weakest major, to be honest," Fitzpatrick said Monday. "So, my expectations have probably got to match my results previous. I've got to be realistic about where my game is. It's obviously not where I'd like it to be."

Despite having a major championship on his resume from last year's U.S. Open and playing on home soil in England this week, Fitzpatrick is somewhat flying under the radar due to his recent form and past Open results. He's not among the top 15 favorites at +4000 at BetMGM and +4500 at DraftKings, and Fitzpatrick has very modest expectations this week.

"I think everyone would like to be playing golf like Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler right now, but that's pretty rare for the rest of us," he said. "I think for me, a good finish for me, all jokes aside, would be top 30 this week. I've not played well in Opens previous, and I wouldn't say that I'm in the best form, either.

"So, I've got to be realistic about where I am."

Fitzpatrick said Royal Liverpool is in fantastic shape, but that links golf courses simply don't suit his game. And it hasn't been an evolution over time -- it dates back to his days as an amateur.

"If I had one last round to play in the world, I wouldn't choose a links golf course," he said. "So, there's probably a little be in that. Don't get me wrong, I like playing great links golf courses. Just for me, it doesn't necessarily suit my eye."

That's not to say Fitzpatrick isn't excited ahead of the final major of the year, especially The Open, where his younger brother is in the field for the first time.

"It's amazing," he said. "I think if you said to me 10 years ago when I played at Muirfield that you'd play in The Open in 2023, you'd have won a major and your brother would be playing in one. I think we'd both feel like, 'what?!' He was only 14 10 years ago, so it's a lot to take in, really.

"It will be a special week."