CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland — Looking for a 3rd victory on the European Masters, Matt Fitzpatrick was upstaged by his youthful brother in a low-scoring first spherical on the picturesque Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Membership within the Alps on Thursday.
Alex Fitzpatrick shot 7-under 63 and was tied for the lead with unheralded Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, ranked No. 629, on the European tour occasion.
Whereas Alex completed tied for fifth on his debut at Crans-Montana final yr, Matt — at age 30, the older of the siblings by 5 years — gained the event in 2017 and 2018 and is trying to turn into simply the fourth participant — after Seve Ballesteros, Harold Henning and Dai Rees — to win it 3 times.
Matt Fitzpatrick shot 66 and was in a six-man group three strokes off the lead. The 2022 U.S. Open champion is the highest-ranked participant within the discipline at No. 27.
Fellow Englishman Matt Wallace had a bogey-free 64 and was with Daan Huizing, Jason Scrivener and Henrik Norlander in a tie for third place.
