Matt Fitzpatrick arrived at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport this week riding a wave of success heading into The Open Championship, held in his home country of England. But beyond his impressive play on the course, the 31-year-old also had something important to say about how gambling is changing the way fans treat professional athletes.
Speaking with reporters on Monday, Fitzpatrick addressed the growing problem of gambling-related harassment that athletes across all sports are experiencing. “It’s a great question because you just look at all the messages people get — footballers, tennis players, you name it, everyone’s getting messages of, ‘Oh, you missed that penalty; you cost me this. Oh, you didn’t make a birdie; cost me this,’” he said.
Fitzpatrick made clear that golfers are no exception. “I’ve had my fair share. I would say every golfer that’s played a professional tournament has had a message of abuse from someone that is related to gambling. I mean, you could see it this week. You go and type in a player’s name who maybe isn’t playing well, maybe someone who’s favored to play well, you type the name into Twitter and you’ll just see their name followed by abuse after abuse after abuse,” he said.
On the course, Fitzpatrick enters the 154th Open as one of the most in-form players in the game, currently ranked No. 3 in the world after three victories this season on the PGA Tour. He tied for third place at the Genesis Scottish Open just last Sunday.
“Hopefully I’ve not peaked yet obviously, but I just think I’m doing a lot of good stuff this year. Short game’s been really, really good, and so has my irons,” he said. “That’s a first for me. My irons have never really been a strength. I’ve had good seasons but never really taken advantage of that, I don’t feel like; whereas now I feel like I’ve got that.”
Fitzpatrick, who claimed the U.S. Open title in 2022, is also looking to top his best performance at The Open, where he finished tied for fourth last year at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
When it comes to gambling personally, Fitzpatrick said he does not “condone gambling in the slightest … it’s not really for me,” though he acknowledged placing small friendly bets on England during the World Cup with friends.
“I’ve had 20 quid on England to win the World Cup, but at the same time, if it doesn’t come in, I’m not going to send a message to Harry Kane and be like, why did you play rubbish? There’s obviously individuals that have that problem,” he said.
He also raised concerns about how easily gambling could be manipulated during a golf round. “For me, it’s definitely becoming a problem and the issue is, particularly in golf, it would be very easy to influence a bet, whether it’s you’re shouting on someone’s backswing, shouting on a putting stroke. It’s really easy. Obviously that is really hard to monitor, but it is definitely an issue,” he said.
Fitzpatrick said he generally avoids social media but is well aware of the hostility that exists there. “You just search my name, Tommy’s (Fleetwood) name, anyone’s name, and you will find just tweet after tweet just straight abuse. It’s not right. I’m not going into someone’s office or in their e-mails abusing them. I would say a lot of it comes down to the gambling,” he said. “But when you’re getting personally attacked, it’s just ridiculous.”
