Matt Fitzpatrick admits he was surprised by what happened with the fans at Royal Portrush and Rory McIlroy on the 18th

Add as preferred source on Google

Matt Fitzpatrick and Rory McIlroy played out their final rounds at The Open together and spurred each other to top seven finishes in doing so.

McIlroy finished on ten under par for his tournament as he failed to make a run at catching Scottie Scheffler at the summit, while Fitzpatrick continued his return to form of late with a -11 and a T4 finish.

The European duo were very much fan favourites out at Royal Portrush and come the 18th hole, it was a case of waiting for the reaction to McIlroy.

In finishing up, McIlroy opted to mark his final putt, with both he and Fitzpatrick facing tap ins for par.

At the time, it was questionable over whether Rory had chosen to mark his ball or if Fitzpatrick insisted.

Thankfully for us, the Englishman has cleared that up.

Matt Fitzpatrick admits to being surprised by the fan reaction to Rory McIlroy

With McIlroy and Fitzpatrick great friends from the Ryder Cups of recent times, there was never going to be any sort of animosity between them on the final hole.

Fitzpatrick was well aware a big crowd reaction was incoming but after letting McIlroy tap in to finish his tournament, he admitted he was a touch let down by the noise.

“I didn’t, no. He said he was going to. I’m pretty sure he was probably pretty intent on marking, although he didn’t get as much applause as I thought he would. I thought they were a little low on that at the end there,” Fitzpatrick admitted.

Asked further on the atmosphere in general, Fitzpatrick admitted he’d heard plenty of shouts for McIlroy.

“Yeah, it was good. I’ve heard enough “Rory’s” to last me a lifetime. I love playing with Rory. He’s fantastic. He’s such a great guy, and in an environment like that where he’s obviously trying arguably more than everyone else to win, to just have the class that he has is awesome.”

• READ MORE: Bryson DeChambeau says what Scottie Scheffler was really like as a college golfer and what happened when they played

Matt Fitzpatrick form a welcome boost for Europe

There are only a few spots available on the Team Europe roster right now and up until recently, it looked like Fitzpatrick might be one of the heroes of Rome to miss out.

However, after an improved performance in the last few weeks and a big finish in the season’s final major, suddenly the Sheffield born star is back in the mix.

Yes, he will need more in the next few weeks to build on his return to form but for captain Luke Donald, it’s presented a fresh new headache.

Fitzpatrick is proven on the major stage and the Ryder Cup stage and in a tense atmosphere at Bethpage Black, the Englishman might just be someone Donald leans towards.