The selfish reason Alex Fitzpatrick died for Matt in the US Amateur

Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick’s emotional victory at last week’s Zurich Classic was not the first time the brothers have combined to win big. Back in 2013, 13-year-old Alex played for Matt when he won the US Amateur at the Country Club.

If you thought that would be a dream-come-true for pre-high schooler Alex, you thought wrong.

It turns out the Fitzpatrick parents had to bombard their youngest son with a shiny new machine to convince him to carry Matt’s bag that week, as Alex explained Tuesday at the 2026 Cadillac Championship.

Alex Fitzpatrick is ready to step out of Matt’s shadow after being promoted to the PGA Tour

For most of their lives, Alex Fitzpatrick had to live in his older brother’s shadow. Matt Fitzpatrick showed signs of greatness early on.

He backed them up with a career-changing victory at the 2022 US Open, on the same course, Country Club in Brookline, where he won the US Amateur with Alex in the bag nine years ago.

Matt is currently on the hottest streak of his career, having won three PGA Tour events since late March to climb to World No. 3. But Alex is crying.

After winning his first DP World Tour in March, he teamed up with Matt at the PGA Tour’s New Orleans Zurich Classic last week, in what he hoped was just a good chance to “spend some time with my brother.”

Alex got the family time he wanted, but he also walked away with a victory, giving him a two-year PGA Tour card, more than $1 million in prize money and spots in the remaining Signature Events.

So while Matt is taking it easy this week following his third win of the year, Alex is in Florida for the Cadillac Championship.

Alex Fitzpatrick reveals the parents’ bribery scheme to get him into Matt’s caddy

In his pre-tournament press conference, Fitzpatrick was asked about his early partnership with his brother Matt at the 2013 US Amateur.

For outsiders, it was a legendary week that harkened back to Francis Ouimet’s US Open win in Brookline a century ago, when 10-year-old Eddie Lowery carried his famous bag.

For Alex, the vibe was very different. In fact, he didn’t want to do it for Matt at all that week. Their father, Russell Fitzpatrick, was then forced to take an extreme step to make it happen: bribery. He promised to buy Alex a new phone if he played for Matt in the tournament.

“I was only playing [Matt] to Mfuntamakhwela from the US because my father promised me a new phone,” said Alex at a press conference on Tuesday at Trump Doral.

Alex added that she really got her new phone after Matt’s win, which she called a “win-win.”

“Then he won and I got a new phone, so it was a success all around,” he joked.

It’s been a few days since the Zurich victory, but now Alex will plan his PGA Tour career without his brother from the Cadillac Championship.

Although Matt won’t be there in person, he sent Alex a touching note of encouragement for Cadillac the morning after their victory in Zurich.

“He just said, you know, he told me to enjoy it. He sent me a really nice text the morning after, you know, since this win is for both of us, you deserve to be here, you’re playing great golf, go out there and show them what you’ve got and try to enjoy it as much as you can, that was the biggest message from him,” Alex said on Tuesday.

Fitzpatrick enters the first round of his new PGA Tour career on Thursday at 1:20 pm ET.