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BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) — Matt Fitzpatrick of England is a champion again at The Country Club, this time with the grandest of trophies. A U.S. Amateur champion in 2013. The U.S. Open champion Sunday. RELATED: What’s in Fitzpatrick’s bag In a three-way battle at Brookline that came down to the wire, Fitzpatrick seized control with a great break and an even better shot on the 15th hole for a two-shot swing. He was even more clutch from a fairway bunker on the 18th that set up par for a 2-under 68. Victory was not secure until Will Zalatoris, who showed amazing fight-back from every mistake, dropped to his knees when his 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th just slid by the left side of the cup. Zalatoris was a runner-up in the second straight major. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler never recovered from back-to-back bogeys to start the back nine. He had a 25-foot birdie chance on the 18th that just missed and left him one behind. Fitzpatrick is the second man to win a U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open on the same course, joining Jack Nicklaus who turned the trick at Pebble Beach. Juli Inkster won the U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Open at Prairie Dunes. Along with the $3.15 million in prize money, Fitzpatrick had the gold Jack Nicklaus medal draped around his neck. He moved to No. 10 in the FedExCup standings. Fitzpatrick, who briefly played at Northwestern before turning pro, won for the eighth time worldwide, and this was his first on the PGA TOUR. Fitzpatrick said he won the member-member at The Bear’s Club in Florida at the start of the year, the course Nicklaus built. “He gave me a bit of abuse at the start of the year. He said, ‘Finally. Congratulations for winning in the States,'” Fitzpatrick said with a laugh. And then slightly lifting the trophy, Fitzpatrick sent a fun message to Nicklaus: “Jack, I won a second time.”

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OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. - One of the toughest tests of the year made it clear that par would be a great score at Olympia Fields. Leave it to Hideki Matsuyama to make a 65-foot birdie putt on his final hole Thursday to lead the BMW Championship. Matsuyama, the Japanese player who has gone three years since his last victory, birdied two of his last three holes for a 3-under 67, one of only three rounds under par on a course that was long, tough, firm, fast and nothing like the last two weeks. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Tyler Duncan, just outside the top 30 as he tries to earn his first trip to the TOUR Championship, made an 8-foot par putt on his last hole for a 68. Mackenzie Hughes, one of only four players who reached 3 under at any point in his round, was another shot behind. “I’m not sure really what I had going today, but that last putt, the long putt that went in, very happy with that one,” Matsuyama said. “So we’ll remember that one.” Dustin Johnson, who won THE NORTHERN TRUST last week at 30-under par, opened with a 71 and felt like it was a good day’s work. He was told that even three straight rounds of 60 would not be enough to reach 30 under at Olympia Fields. “Yeah, but I would win,” he said. By a landslide, no doubt. Tiger Woods needs to finish around fourth to have any hope of returning to East Lake next week in Atlanta to chase the $15 million bonus for the FedExCup winner. He was hovering around even par a few shots out of the lead. He finished with three straight bogeys for a 73 and was running hotter than the weather. A three-time U.S. Open champion, Woods knows all about control and patience and key pars putts. And then he let a reasonable round get away from him. “The course was fine. The course is in perfect shape. Not the way I wanted to finish,” Woods said in brief comments. The average score was 72.8, and only four of the 18 holes played under par. That included both par 5s. This is what the U.S. Open could have used in 2003, instead of rain-softened conditions. It was hot in the morning, baking out a dry course. The rough is 5 inches in spots. The greens were hard, making it tough to get the ball close and nearly impossible to get shots to stop on the green from out of the rough. “I think when golf courses become like this and pars are a premium, I think I’m almost more comfortable at times because you don’t feel like you’ll ever get left behind when you’re running off a few pars in a row,” Hughes said. “Like last week, if you got off to a slow start and you were even par through six holes you felt like you were getting run over.” Rory McIlroy was among 10 players who finished at 70 and felt the day was a success. He hasn’t registered a top 10 since golf returned from the coronavirus shutdown in June, and he conceded to being lethargic without fan energy. “I said last week if you need someone to shoot between like even par and 2 under, I’m your man,” McIlroy said. “So I’m loving these conditions. It’s sort of weird. The way my game feels at the minute, it’s just as easy for me to shoot even par here as it was last week in Boston, for whatever reason that is. “But this is proper golf,” he said. “You’ve really got to think about stuff. … It’s nice to play a round of golf like that again.” Also in that group at even par was Carlos Ortiz of Mexico, notable because he was the latest player to be grouped with Woods for the first time. He raved about how Woods controls the flight of his irons. He missed out on the massive crowd because there are no spectators, only carts carrying the broadcast crew. “It’s probably the least amount of people he’s played in front of,” Ortiz said, “and the most for me.”

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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Two-time champion Stewart Cink moved into position for a third RBC Heritage title, shooting a second straight 63 to set the 36-hole scoring mark at Harbour Town. RELATED: Leaderboard | Wesley Bryan back in happy place at RBC Heritage Cink, 47, appears unstoppable after two amazing days. He sits at 16-under 126, five shots ahead of Corey Conners. The previous best midway score was 129, set by Jack Nicklaus en route to victory in 1975 and matched by Phil Mickelson, who wound up third in 2002. Conners shot 64 and was 11 under. Emiliano Grillo (64) was another shot behind. Collin Morikawa, preparing to defend his PGA Championship title next month, was tied for fourth at 9-under with Sungjae Im (65), Billy Horschel (67) and Cameron Smith, who followed his opening-round 62 with a 71. Cink was hardly overwhelmed by the scores he posted, chalking them up to smart preparation and strong execution alongside his 24-year-old son, Reagan, who’s caddying for him. “It doesn’t feel all that special, to be honest with you,” Cink said. “We just kind of worked our game plan.” It was certainly unexpected. Cink hasn’t finished in the top 20 at Harbour Town in a decade, hadn’t led halfway since the Travelers Championship in 2008 and is closer to the PGA TOUR Champions than his prime. Yet Cink has had a renaissance on golf’s biggest stage this season. He won for the first time in 11 years at the Safeway Open in September and has added five top-20 finishes including a tie for 12th last week at the Masters. Cink was down three shots to Conners when he teed off Friday. No matter. Cink quickly erased the deficit with an eagle on the par-5 second and a birdie on No. 3. Cink moved in front with a birdie on the sixth and steadily built his margin the rest of the way, adding birdies on the 11th, 13th, 15th and 17th holes. The veteran is two solid rounds away from adding a third plaid jacket to the two he earned in 2000 and 2004. In both of those wins, Cink came from behind on Sunday. This time he’ll need to just maintain his strong overall play. Since Reagan became his caddie, father and son have been collaborating on strategy before tournaments. “We call it bludgeoning and we’re just bludgeoning that plan almost to death,” the elder Cink said with a grin. “When you manage yourself around a course like that and execute, the golf courses yield.” Conners entered the week with Masters momentum, having tied for eighth at Augusta National for his second top-10 finish there in five months. He birdied seven of his final 13 holes. “Giving myself lots of chances and was really nice to see some go in,” Conners said. “Hopefully, can keep that up going into the weekend.” Morikawa had chances, too, He had seven birdie opportunities from 20 feet or less on his final nine holes, but the only one that dropped was an 18-footer on No. 6. Morikawa said changing wind conditions made it difficult to judge green speeds. “It was tough not seeing a few birdies in,” he said. “But we’ll work on a few things and be fine for the weekend.” Smith, who was bogey-free in his opening 62, dropped three shots in a five-hole stretch on Friday. “I think the golfing gods got a few back on me today,” the Australian said. Dustin Johnson used a back-nine surge to avoid his second straight missed cut and after leaving the Masters early, returning only to slip the green jacket on new champ Hideki Matsuyama. Consecutive bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes at Harbour Town dropped him to 1-under, but four birdies coming in gave him a 67 and left him 11 shots behind Cink. Those going home included Patrick Cantlay, Harris English, Sergio Garcia and Kevin Na, all among the top 30 in the FedExCup standings this season.

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