Alex Fitzpatrick must be thinking what an easy game it must be.
Two weeks ago, he and his older brother Matt teamed to capture the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Then last week Alex finished in a share of ninth at the Cadillac Championship, his first event as a PGA TOUR member. Now he has the opportunity to earn a PGA TOUR title on his own and earn a the whopping $2.8m first prize cheque.
THE AMAZING FITZPATRICK’S …
As baby brother Alex just one round shy of a maiden ‘individual’ @PGATOUR victory @TruistChamp
Disappointinly four-time Quail Hollow champ Rory McIlroy nose dives with four bogeys in succession
Read: https://t.co/Txnq4ZcXOE
Getty
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) May 10, 2026
The younger Fitzpatrick is again back in contention enjoying a one-stroke lead over Kristoffer Reitan entering the final round of the Truist Championship.
Fitzpatrick, who wasn’t even a full Tour member two weeks ago, is currently projected to leap to 10th in the FedExCup. Not bad for a player who was facing the prospect of losing his DP World Tour card last fall.
“I feel like over the past six months I’ve always tried to have the mindset of there is other things in life than golf,” he said Saturday. “You know, I would love to win. I would give a lot to win. Also if winning doesn’t happen tomorrow, I would hope it would happen at some point. As long as I can out and enjoy it that’s all I can do.”
Fitzpatrick has found a friendly crowd at Quail Hollow thanks to his Wake Forest ties. One of his college teammates was a member at the course, and he played it previously during his student days. Chants of “Go Alex!” were heard on most holes Saturday, even as he played alongside American Justin Thomas, who won a PGA Championship here.
Fitzpatrick was playing well even before he won with Matt in New Orleans. He picked up his first DP World Tour win at the Hero Indian Open in his last start before the Zurich. He credits older brother Matt for easing the transition.
“I think having my brother around has been super helpful,” he said.
“I feel like he’s been and done everything that I want to do in the game, whether that’s Ryder Cup and win majors, so having him being around and me being there for all of that, I felt like I got a really good sense of what it takes and what the atmosphere is like.
“And even meeting some of the players before I even came out here was I think super helpful in settling in. I think that definitely played a factor today.”
Disappointingly there is one player that not in contention and that is double Masters winning Rory McIlroy who saw his efforts to capture an amazing fifth Quail Hollow trophy disappear when he horribly bogeyed four holes in succession from the 10th hole in a third day 75 and slump 29 places to a share of 37th at one-under and a distant 13 shots shy of Fitzpatrick.
Third-Round Notes – Saturday, May 9, 2026
Weather: Mostly cloudy. High of 77. Wind SW 5-15 mph, gusting to 20 mph.
Third-Round Leaderboard
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
| 1 | Alex Fitzpatrick | 67 | 68 | 64 | 199 (-14) |
| 2 | Kristoffer Reitan | 66 | 70 | 64 | 200 (-13) |
| 3 | Cameron Young | 68 | 70 | 63 | 201 (-12) |
| T4 | Nicolai Højgaard | 66 | 70 | 67 | 203 (-10) |
| T4 | Sungjae Im | 64 | 69 | 70 | 203 (-10) |
Alex Fitzpatrick (1st/-14)
- Earns his first 54-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR in his 13th career start
- 64 marks his best 18-hole score on TOUR (previous: 66 in the second round of last week’s Cadillac Championship)
- Leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (9.843) and Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (7.571)
- Making the third start of his rookie season: Won/Zurich Classic of New Orleans, T9/Cadillac Championship
- Earned his first PGA TOUR victory two weeks ago at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (with brother and World No. 3 Matt Fitzpatrick) in his 11th start on TOUR
- With the win, earned PGA TOUR membership through the 2028 season, along with exemptions into the remaining 2026 Signature Events, 2026 PGA Championship and 2027 PLAYERS Championship
- Looks to join his brother Matt Fitzpatrick, as well as Chris Gotterup and Cameron Young, as the only players with multiple wins on TOUR this season
- Prior to winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, owned two professional victories at the 2026 Hero Indian Open (DP World Tour) and 2023 British Challenge (HotelPlanner Tour)
Copy and notes thanks PGA Tour.
