RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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If Alex Fitzpatrick wanted a glimpse into just how life changing winning on the PGA Tour would be, he did not have to wait long.
While celebrating victory at the Zurich Classic pairs event, in tandem with his older brother and world number four Matt, at a golf club just north of Palm Beach in Florida, Alex felt a congratulatory hand on his shoulder.
"I look over and it's Michael Jordan," Fitzpatrick says. "I'm like 'wow', it's insane.
"He walks past the table. He's got a bag full of cigars, t-shirt untucked, he looks like the coolest person ever.
"He walked past me, saw Gary Woodland, who won the previous week, and was like 'wow, it's a room of winners in here'. That was the coolest thing ever.
"When I started to really love basketball, I watched videos of him. I love his shoes. I loved everything about him. It was surreal having that moment.
"I'm not someone who gets starstruck but Michael Jordan, having him say stuff to me, it was a different world."
It is a world, though, where Fitzpatrick is looking very much at home.
In addition to his maiden DP World Tour win at the Indian Open in March, Fitzpatrick has five top-10 finishes in 13 starts on the PGA Tour.
While cynics were questioning the merit of receiving a two-year tour card as a result of winning April's Zurich Classic, 2026 has seen Fitzpatrick prove his place alongside the world's best.
And so sure is he of his spot among the elite, Fitzpatrick hasn't actually leaned much on 2022 US Open champion Matt for advice.
"The truth is, we haven't spoken that much about a lot of stuff. I've picked his brain once this year, maybe twice," he says.
"I feel comfortable out here and comfortable around the group of people playing on this tour.
"I've been doing this a long time, I've been playing golf since I was four.
"I haven't asked him a lot of questions about how things work, maybe how to get better with certain things.
"He's always someone I can text or call but he's still my brother and that's more important than the golf side."
When Netflix featured Alex in season two of its fly-on-the-wall documentary Full Swing, the episode was titled 'In The Shadows', and, whether on request of the production crew or not, he introduced himself as "Matt Fitzpatrick's brother" first, then "professional golfer".
This season, the younger Fitzpatrick has been carving his own path.
He followed up the Indian Open and Zurich Classic successes by finishing tied for ninth at the Cadillac Championship in May. He was then fourth at the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow and it was at that tournament in North Carolina when he felt like he belonged at this level.
"I've always had the self belief that I could compete against the best players, but I never had the chance or facts to back up my own belief," he says.
"It was nice to feel like I'm out here for a good reason. At that point, I was confident in my game and at that point I felt I could carry on."
He says his remarkable rise from outside the world's top 250 to number 68 in just 12 months was "kick-started" by working with Matt's former coach Mike Walker on a more permanent basis.
Fitzpatrick adds that "backing himself" was his best decision but does he feel like he has finally forged his own standing in the game?
"I have my own identity," he says. "This year I've really worked on what I want to achieve and who I am as a person.
"That's the big step I've taken. The success on the course doesn't define me."
With the qualification period for the 2027 Ryder Cup starting this week, both brothers could play their way into Luke Donald's European team to face the United States at Adare Manor next September.
But Fitzpatrick's immediate attention is on a strong finish at the PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship in the FedEx Cup play-offs.
The Sheffield golfer will tee it up on Thursday sitting 24th in the standings, with a guaranteed £260,000 even if he finishes last in the 30-man field at East Lake, capping off a year he describes "about as life changing as you can imagine".
Such has been his progress, simply playing in Atlanta, something which the likes of Justin Thomas, Shane Lowry and Rickie Fowler are not doing, is quite the achievement for the man ranked 291st in the world last August.
Whether it's playing in the biggest, most lucrative tournaments in golf, or rubbing shoulders with basketball royalty, the feelings for Fitzpatrick are the same.
"It's very surreal," he says. "I'm just trying to take it all in and make the most of it."
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