ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Matt Fitzpatrick is showing no sign of any emotional hangover following Europe’s victory in the Ryder Cup.
The Englishman shot 8-under 64 at Kingsbarns on Friday to take a one-stroke lead at the Dunhill Links Championship, the DP World Tour event that also takes place at St. Andrews and Carnoustie. After a round at each of the three Scottish courses, the final round is back on the Old Course on Sunday.
Fitzpatrick, who had Friday’s low round, was on 13-under par and a shot clear of Scotland’s Grant Forrest (67) and Spain’s Nacho Elvira (66) after a day when strong winds affected the scoring. Forrest and Elvira both played at St. Andrews.
Fitzpatrick is one of three players – along with Tommy Fleetwood and Robert MacIntyre – in the field who played at last week’s Ryder Cup outside Rome, where the European team beat the Americans 16.5-11.5 to regain the trophy.
He said he wanted a “nice and relaxed” week after his exertions in Italy and he was seen laughing and joking during his round with his mother, who is playing alongside the former U.S. Open champion in the pro-am team event.
Fleetwood (73) and MacIntyre (71) also played at Kingsbarns and were 2 under and 3 under for the tournament, respectively.
The Ryder Cup trio will all play at St. Andrews on Saturday, when the weather is expected to get worse.
English players Marcus Armitage (68 at St. Andrews) and Matthew Southgate (68 at Kingsbarns) were two shots back from Fitzpatrick in a tie for fourth.
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