Matthew Fitzpatrick explains why he has fitted a putter grip on to his driver

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When golf fans think of players who have transformed a part of their game in recent years, it is perhaps likely that thoughts will turn to Bryson DeChambeau and the changes he made to his body from late on in 2019.

However, one transformation which perhaps went slightly under the radar is the one from Matthew Fitzpatrick, with the Englishman previously one of the shortest hitters on the PGA Tour.

Fitzpatrick won seven times on the DP World Tour before the end of 2021. But it seemed that he struggled to find his way stateside, with just one top 10 finish in the majors in that same period. Meanwhile, he lost all five matches he played across the 2016 and 2021 Ryder Cups.

Generally, Fitzpatrick relied on driving accuracy to allow him to compete with the longer hitters. However, that has really changed, with the 2022 US Open champion adding more than 25 yards off the tee between 2016 and 2023.

Matthew Fitzpatrick explains why he has a putter grip on a driver in his golf bag

So it may be worth taking note of the specific training aids Fitzpatrick uses, which, as it turns out, includes a copy of his driver with a fat Lamkin putting grip. And speaking to Golf Monthly, the 30-year-old explained why exactly he has it in his bag.

“To me, it just helps me feel like my right hand’s on top. When it’s on top, you’re not coming from underneath, you’re not flipping the club,” he said.

“That way I feel like I can square the face much easier, and obviously there’s a bunch of other things it helps me do subconsciously. But the main thing for me is I feel the right hand on top, that it’s not flipping over.”

How Fitzpatrick has added distance over the years

It is remarkable to look at Fitzpatrick’s improvement off the tee over the last decade. He averaged 278.3 yards off the tee during the 2016 PGA Tour season. That would make him the shortest hitter on the PGA Tour this year.

He has dropped back a little in 2024, with Fitzpatrick averaging just under 300 yards. But he did go past that mark in both the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He is perhaps working on finding a happy medium which allows him to not be too far behind the really long hitters while also hitting more fairways.

It says a lot that a very quiet year for Fitzpatrick is still good enough for him to finish 40th in the FedEx Cup standings.