Weekly Fantasy Golf Recap: Brothers in Arms

The things that siblings will do for one another.

Sure, they rib and kid and pick on each other. But when it matters most, they support and protect and, heck, even hit a world-class bunker shot, if that's what's needed.

On the 18th hole on Sunday at TPC Louisiana, that's what was needed.

Matt Fitzpatrick hit a 35-yard shot from a greenside bunker to 14 inches, leaving younger brother Alex Fitzpatrick with a kick-in birdie to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

That shot has forever changed little bro's life.

The elder Fitzpatrick, of course, is on a big-time heater that has carried him to No. 3 in the world rankings. But Alex, four years younger at 27, has largely struggled through his professional golf career.

He did win the Indian Open last month on the DP World Tour for his first victory – and make no mistake, that was a big deal. But winning a PGA Tour event, even a team event, is next level.

"I don't even know how to describe it," Alex told reporters afterward. "I thought I was going to miss the putt, stood over it, even though it was so short. I couldn't feel my hands, couldn't feel my legs, couldn't feel anything.

"Yeah, it's just been a whirlwind. I think, yeah, at some point it will set in, but it's a pretty life-changing thing. Kind of excited to see what doors open and just try and play as good of golf as I can and chase him."

First and foremost, Alex earned a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour through the 2028 season. More immediately, he'll get into Signature Events the next two weeks at the Cadillac Championship and Truist Championship, which brings guaranteed big paydays and FedExCup points at the no-cut events. Then there's the PGA Championship next month, two more Signature Events in June at the Memorial and Travelers, plus the 2027 PLAYERS Championship.

Wow. Cha-ching!

On the 584-yard 18th, tied with two other teams, Matt smoked a drive 322 down the middle. Alex sent his approach into the bunker, but …

"When I got there, the lie was just absolutely obscenely good," Matt said. "It was literally like, sat on a tee peg. I knew that it was going to spin, and I knew I had to kind of be aggressive with it.

"I'd say, you know, it's as good a bunker shot as I've ever hit, but that may be lying. But to hit it the way I did and to finish where it did to make it the most stress-free tap-in of all time pretty much for such a big occasion was really, really nice."

The Fitzpatricks set the tournament record of 31-under 257, one better than Davis Riley and Nick Hardy when they won in 2023. On Saturday, the Fitzpatricks set the best-ball record with a 57.

Fifteen other golfers played their way into the Cadillac Championship via the Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5, and we'll list them in the Monday Backspin.

For Alex, there's no guarantee of future success, only future opportunities. He had played 11 PGA Tour events before the Zurich and made only five cuts. His best finish had been a tie 11th – at the Zurich two years ago. This was his first Tour start of 2026. His best finish on his own had been a tie for 17th, but even that came at the Open Championship in 2023. His best solo finish on U.S. soil was a T23 at the opposite-field event in the Dominican Republic in 2024.

But now everything changes, thanks in large part to big bro.

"Yeah, I'm incredibly appreciative of him, everything that he does for me," Alex said. "There's just so many little things that I'm sure that he does that I don't know about that he does for me as well. Yeah, I'm obviously incredibly lucky to have him as my brother.

"I don't think there's many people that can say, you know, one of the best players in the world is your brother, but also, just what he does for me. Yeah, just love him to bits. There's not much more to say."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

The Aon Swing 5 constitutes  the top five players with the most FedExCup points across the Puerto Rico Open, the Valspar, the Houston Open, the Valero and the Zurich. Those five are Ricky Castillo, David Lipsky, Matt Wallace, Alex Smalley and Chandler Blanchet. Lipsky, Wallace and Smalley played the Zurich. All made the cut, with Smalley tying for second alongside partner Hayden Springer.

The Aon Next 10 constitutes the top 10 in FedExCup points for the season not already exempt into the Cadillac. They are Min Woo Lee, Jake Knapp, Gary Woodland, Nico Echavarria, Ryo Hisatsune, Sahith Theegala, Nicolai Hojgaard, Adam Scott, Sudarshan Yellamaraju and Patrick Rodgers. Theegala and Yellamaraju were the only two to play the Zurich. Theegala tied for 24th with Aaron Rai. Yellamaraju missed by a shot with Ryan Gerard.

The only post-Zurich change in either group was that Smalley played his way in to knock out Jordan Smith.

Alex Smalley
It's easy to dismiss a good week if it's at the Zurich -- even if you win. But Smalley has been playing well for a while now. He has made eight straight cuts and finished top-25 in five of them. He's ranked 33rd on Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach and top-70 in every SG category. And Smalley is now inside the top 50 in the FedExCup Standings.

Kristoffer Reitan
Reitan also tied for second with fellow Norwegian Kris Ventura. Reitan is in his first year on the PGA Tour after coming over from the DP World Tour and starting to acclimate. He finished 10th at the Valero, then made the cut at the Masters and now there's this runner-up at the Zurich. But he really needs to improve on approach, a category in which he ranks 148th.

Billy Horschel
This season has been a struggle. Horschel has been making cuts -- 8-of-11 coming in -- but he had just one top-25. He would not be in the FedExCup Playoffs if they started today. With Tom Hoge at the Zurich, they tied for sixth. Horschel is kind of a course specialist – he's won at TPC New Orleans as a single and with Scott Piercy a few years back in the team event. Like we said, the Zurich guarantees nothing going forward. But Horschel needed some good vibes any way he could get them. And he got them.

Austin Eckroat
Eckroat and Davis Thompson tied for sixth. Eckroat has made only six cuts in 10 starts, but the past two were good – 10th at the Valero and now the Zurich. Notably, he's up to 28th on Tour in SG: Approach, which offers some hope of better days ahead.

Sahith Theegala
Theegala tied for 24th with Aaron Rai. He's been battling all season after an injury-lost 2025. He's now up to 26th in the point standings and, as mentioned, will play the Cadillac. He didn't qualify for the Masters, but otherwise is having an excellent season with top-25s at three Signature Events -- Riviera, Bay Hill (T6) and Harbour Town.

Chandler Blanchet
Blanchet is a 30-year-old PGA Tour rookie who didn't make a cut before this season and then missed his first five this season. Not good! And he missed this past week alongside partner John VanDerLaan. But he'll be playing in the Cadillac because he finished second in Puerto Rico -- the first Tour cut he ever made -- and followed that up with a T18 at the Valspar. He had enough points to get into the no-cut RBC Heritage, where he tied for 33rd to earn more points and guaranteed cash. He's a perfect illustration that getting your foot in the door of the Signature Events any way possible gives you more opportunities.

Brooks Koepka
With five big-name players sitting out the Cadillac, including Rory McIlroy, Koepka was positioned as the first alternate on Friday when the field was announced. But he and partner Shane Lowry missed the Zurich cut by a stroke, and that killed Koepka's chances. After the Zurich, he dropped to the third alternate behind Michael Thorbjornsen and Reitan.

For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, tournament participation and overall golfer performance, head to RotoWire's latest golf news or follow @RotoWireGolf on X.