We all forget things in life, but can you imagine a professional golfer forgetting they had added a weight to their driver almost a year ago?
Well, you don’t need to imagine as two-time DP World Tour Championship winner Matt Fitzpatrick revealed he did just that.
When he was quizzed on the reason for his impressive six under par 66 on the opening day of the Players Championship, the Englishman was quick to credit his driver.
“I drove it like I feel like I can drive it,” he said.
“To me, it felt a bit like my old self: drove the ball well, putted well, and that’s always been the key to when I’ve played well, really.”
The reason he drove it like his old self? The removal of a 4-gram weight in the grip of his driver that the 2022 U.S. Open champion added in February 2022 as he looked to match up his driver and iron set.
Over the course of the season, it start causing some problems with his game, with the extra weight creating more face rotation and more kick from the shaft, resulting in a left miss.
“For whatever reason, I just forgot that it was ever in there,” said Fitzpatrick, who still managed to win twice during that period despite his equipment oversight.
“I wouldn’t say it was OK. Maybe I’d have won four times if I had it out.
“We were just very confused, swing-wise.”
The weight in the grip of the driver was only revealed to Fitzpatrick and his team last month when he went for a regrip.
It’s fair to say he was astonished at the revelation.
“I took it to Titleist, they regripped it for me and they’re like, oh, you know there’s a weight in there, and I almost had a heart attack,” he said.
“As soon as it came out and I hit it the next day, it felt night and day.
“I could hit it as hard as I want, and it wouldn’t go left. Previously, I felt like I hit it hard, and it would just go straight left.”
