The Open: Matt Fitzpatrick Dunks in Spectacular Chip Shot to Birdie

Matt Fitzpatrick made a miraculous birdie on the 16th hole during the first round of the Open Championship at Royal Portrush on Thursday.

Fitzpatrick, 30, hit a bad iron shot that left him 13 meters away from the pin and down a hill. When he got up to hit his second shot, he was well under the hole.

Despite having a difficult shot, Fitzpatrick dives in his chip shot after a birdie. The English golfer couldn’t have landed his shot more perfectly as it clung down from the bottom of the flag and into the hole.

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Birdie moved Fitzpatrick into a draw for first place of 4 under par. Fitzpatrick is tied with Jacob Skov Olesen and Haotong Li, who are at this time of this writing on top of the leaderboard.

Fitzpatrick started the day well with an eagle on the other hole. He immediately gave a beat back with a bogey on the third hole.

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Matt Fitzpatrick from England plays from the 1st hole during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland, Thursday 17 July 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

However, bogey would be Fitzpatrick’s lonely bogey of the day as he had a few or better on each hole after that.

Fitzpatrick had played strong golf that came out of the open when he ended in a draw for eighth in the Rocket Classic at the end of June and ended in a draw to the fourth at the Scottish Open last week.

Matt Fitzpatrick of England plays from the RU on the 7th hole during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland, Thursday 17 July 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Fitzpatrick has two careers -pga -tour gains, one of them coming in a major when he won the 2022 US Open. The last tournament he won was RBC Heritage in 2023.

Fitzpatrick attended Northwestern University and turned Pro in 2014.