After Firing Legendary PGA Tour Caddie, Major Champ Uses 1 Word to Sum Up All His Problems

The Philadelphia Cricket Club is getting ready for the prelude to the PGA Championship. The Truist Championship is seen by many of the top professional golfers as exactly that. But for Matt Fitzpatrick, the signature event is one of many occasions that he can use to get his tumultuous season back on track. Why tumultuous? You see, the English golfer has been going through a rough period of golf and ended up parting ways with his long-term caddie, Billy Foster, in the midst of it. And he bared his mind recently, explaining how he is thinking about how the season went and his plans for the future.

So, Matt Fitzpatrick was talking to Dan Rapaport for Skratch’s ‘One Hole with’ series. While the walking interview was taking place, Rapaport asked Fitzpatrick to summarize his season so far in one word. The 2-time PGA Tour winner did not take a long time to come back with an answer, stating, “Rubbish.” That more or less sums up the season so far for the Brit.

Let’s put some context in place. In the entire last season, the 2022 US Open winner had participated in 21 events and missed 4 cuts. He had two Top 10 finishes before the PGA Championship took place, which included a remarkable 5th place at the 2024 PLAYERS Championship. But this year, in only ten events so far, he has already matched the 4 missed cuts from last year. Pretty unfortunate.

That includes the PLAYERS Championship and the Valero Texas Open, both tournaments where he finished in the top 10 last year. He is also yet to finish in the top 20 at a single event so far, with his best finish coming at the Arnold Palmer Invitational(T22). Underwhelming, by whatever standard you want to measure it by.

But the Sheffield native sees a better future in front of him. “When you are playing well, you are probably going to want to work less hard. Obviously, when you’re trying to find it, you’re always going to be like, I need to be here from nine till nine at night.” The English golfer has the solution ready. He needs to get better and put in the work. Now it is just about execution. And he has taken some drastic steps to bring about a change in his approach.

Matt Fitzpatrick parts ways with long-term caddie

After missing the cut at the PLAYERS Championship, the Brit had to make the tough decision of letting his caddie go. He and Billy Foster had been together for six years. Foster joined Fitzpatrick as his bagman in 2019, having tons of experience on the Tour. He has caddied with Seve Ballesteros, Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke, and Lee Westwood.

Foster took to Instagram to share a message. “Well, after 6 great years, all good things come to an end. This game never stops to frustrate you & infuriate you…!!! Unfortunately, times change, & ultimately it’s the caddie or the coach that has to accept results are not good enough, & when you stop enjoying what you are doing, it’s time for a change. Thanks, Matt; we had a great run & who knows where the next chapter will go. Onwards & Upwards.”

While they had agreed on a scaled-back schedule to start the 2025 season, a disappointing season meant that some tough decisions had to be made. It will be interesting to see who Fitzpatrick replaces Foster with in the long run, especially considering that the duo were together for both of his iconic victories on the PGA Tour—the 2022 US Open and the 2023 RBC Heritage.

This season, Fitzmatrick and Foster aren’t the only ones who has parted ways on the course. Max Homa also parted ways with his long-term caddie, Joe Greiner. Collin Morikawa also separated from JJ Jakovac.  Can Matt Fitzpatrick bury the demons of his past and make a comeback with a strong performance at the upcoming Truist Championship?

The post After Firing Legendary PGA Tour Caddie, Major Champ Uses 1 Word to Sum Up All His Problems appeared first on EssentiallySports.