Why in-form Fitzpatrick's game puts him among Masters favourites

If Matt Fitzpatrick takes a glance at results profiles of the past four Masters winners he should add to already substantial confidence levels for the year's first major.

Starting with Scottie Scheffler's first Green Jacket victory in 2022, each Augusta champion has brought tournament winning form down Magnolia Lane.

Last year Rory McIlroy claimed trophies at Pebble Beach and the Players Championship before adding a tie for fifth at the Houston Open in his last appearance before the Masters.

A year earlier Scheffler won at Bay Hill, the Players and added a runner-up finish in Houston. Jon Rahm was a three-time winner in the months prior to his Masters victory in 2023.

And when he started the trend in 2022, Scheffler had won at Bay Hill and the World Matchplay before dominating amid the famous cathedral pines of Georgia in the second week of April.

Fitzpatrick - already a major winner with his 2022 US Open triumph - will spend the next fortnight honing his game for the demands of the Masters. He does so having just won the Valspar Championship, a week after finishing a close runner-up to Cameron Young at the Players.

"There's stuff I want to improve," Fitzpatrick said after collecting his third PGA Tour title at the Copperhead course in Florida last Sunday. But recent rounds suggest he has developed qualities requiring mere preservation to prosper at Augusta.

Last week the Englishman was second for strokes gained in his approach play, first for scrambling around the greens and fifth in performance off the tee. These are impressive stats in bedrock categories essential for Augusta success.

This is in stark contrast to where the 31-year-old from Sheffield was a year ago, when he was 61st in the world rankings and in a tailspin that saw him plummet as low as 85th a month or so later.

"There's a big difference in my approach play," Fitzpatrick said after his one shot win over David Lipsky last Sunday. "My irons are just so much better.

"Better distance control, better accuracy left-to-right. Hitting the shape that I want to hit."

The key to this current level of elite performance was discovered after he carded a two-under-par 70 to begin the Players Championship earlier this month. Fitzpatrick spent that afternoon on the Sawgrass range with coach Mark Blackburn.

He called it "a really good session that felt like it really helped me".

"It's made a big difference over the last seven rounds of golf I've played," Fitzpatrick added.

"I hit my irons really well. I think I was first in approach play for the first three rounds (at Copperhead).

"That's a big difference from where I've come from in the past. I always felt like my short game, driving and putting's been good enough.

"Approach play always felt like it was the missing link. So far this year it's been really good and last year it was really good as well. It's about continuing that and giving myself more opportunities."

With Scheffler's recent patchy form, by his extraordinarily high standards, and McIlroy struggling to match the standard of his golf this time last year, there is scope to look beyond the top two players in the world for Augusta glory.

Fitzpatrick, now up to number six, undoubtedly falls into that category as does Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, (fourth at the Players) last year's Masters play-off runner-up Justin Rose and FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood.

But, amid justified optimism that the famous Green Jacket might remain in UK hands, it would be foolish to ignore what has also been happening on the breakaway LIV Tour.

Bryson DeChambeau will go into the Masters having won play-offs in his past two outings before the opening major of the year. The big-hitting American beat Rahm in a shootout in South Africa a week after claiming victory in Singapore.

The switch from 54 to 72 holes has clearly favoured the best players on LIV, with Rahm, the recent winner in Hong Kong, finishing in the top two in all but one of five tournaments to date.

Yes there is not the same depth of field on LIV, but Data Golf, who crunch the numbers from all tours, rank the Spaniard second only to Scheffler in their global standings.

While Rahm has abandoned his appeal against sanctions imposed by the DP World Tour, he remains embroiled in a stand-off with the European circuit that threatens future Ryder Cup appearances.

But the ongoing controversy does not seem to be putting off the 31-year-old Basque, who is certainly one to watch when the Masters begins on 9 April.

How enticing it is that so many of the other threats are his Ryder Cup team-mates - McIlroy, Fleetwood, MacIntyre or Rose as well as Ludvig Aberg. And, of course, Fitzpatrick - who has already stylishly painted gloss to his year with his Valspar win.

"I want to make sure that I'm ready for when I get to Augusta," Fitzpatrick said. "To be ready to play and be ready that Thursday morning and be in the best shape possible."