Matt Fitzpatrick’s career took a difficult turn in 2025 before the Englishman began to rebuild his form. By May that year, Fitzpatrick had fallen to No. 85 in the world rankings, his lowest position in almost a decade. The decline came shortly after he parted ways with caddie Billy Foster and long-time coach Mike Walker.
The changes marked a difficult period for Fitzpatrick, who had won the 2022 U.S. Open and established himself as one of the leading players on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. His fortunes began to shift after he started working with Alabama-based coach Mark Blackburn, with the technical changes eventually producing stronger results.
Fitzpatrick’s resurgence has continued into 2026. He has won three times on the PGA Tour this year, taking his career total to five victories. Speaking exclusively to Golf Monthly, he reflected on the coaching change and explained why it became an important moment in his career.
Matt Fitzpatrick Explains Coach Change That Turned His Career Around
Fitzpatrick admitted that the decision to change coaches was difficult, particularly because he understood how far his game had fallen from its previous level.
“It’s obviously difficult. I felt like I knew where I’d been to in the game at that point, and you’re always trying to get back to that, particularly when you feel it slipping away from you,” Fitzpatrick said.
He added that he was not achieving what he wanted at the time, and that circumstances eventually led to a change in his coaching setup.
“So it was a difficult time and I didn’t feel like I was achieving what I wanted to achieve. Unfortunately, circumstances led to a change in coach and that’s obviously had a big difference in the technical aspect of my game – and the results have come with that.”
The impact of Blackburn’s work became evident soon afterward. Fitzpatrick recorded top-10 finishes at the PGA Championship and The Open before ending 2025 with a victory over Rory McIlroy at the DP World Tour Championship.
His form has improved further in 2026, with three PGA Tour victories taking his career tally to five.
Fitzpatrick identified his iron play as the biggest area of improvement under Blackburn.
“The biggest thing for me is the irons,” he explained. “The irons have been, technically, just very, very different from my past and I feel very comfortable hitting the shots that I want to hit now.”
He said the changes have given him greater control over his start lines and shot shapes, while improved distance control has created more birdie opportunities.
“And then distance control on top of that has enabled me to give myself more chances for birdie. When you pair that with some good putting, then good things tend to happen.”
Matt Fitzpatrick Reflects on 2026 Wins and Ryder Cup Success
One of Fitzpatrick’s biggest victories in 2026 came at the RBC Heritage, where he defeated world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in a playoff to win the tournament for the second time. It followed his victory at the Valspar Championship.
A week later, Fitzpatrick teamed up with his younger brother Alex to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The victory also earned Alex his PGA Tour card.
Fitzpatrick described the achievement as difficult to fully process.
“It’s hard to put it into words. Yes, it’s still hard to believe. I feel like I still need to sit down and watch it ten times to believe it, to really take it all in.”
Alex’s performances later helped him reach the Tour Championship, raising the possibility of the brothers teaming up again at the 2027 Ryder Cup in Ireland.
“Hopefully I can start next year in Ireland. I’ve got a younger brother who’s pretty good, so that would be fun,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick has also developed into an important Ryder Cup player after difficult starts to his first two appearances. He played a key role in Europe’s victories at Marco Simone and Bethpage Black, winning 2.5 points from four matches at Bethpage as Europe prevailed 15-13.
Reflecting on that victory, Fitzpatrick said: “I described it at the time like winning an away football match against your biggest rivals and that’s still how it feels.”
His recent career resurgence has therefore followed both technical changes and improved results, with Fitzpatrick now looking ahead to further success on the PGA Tour and at the majors.
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