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Northwestern recruit Matt Fitzpatrick wins US Amateur

Matt Fitzpatrick is a damn stud. The incoming Northwestern freshman won the U.S. Amateur, joining Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as those who have won the Havermeyer Trophy. He's now the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world.

By Rodger Sherman
Jim Rogash

Get to know Matt Fitzpatrick.

We already told y'all about whenFitzpatrick won the Silver Medal as the low amateur at the British Open. Sunday, the Brit who will begin taking classes at Northwestern in about a month won the US Amateur, defeating Oliver Goss in the final round of a 64-man match play tournament.

Fitzpatrick was tied for third after two days of stroke play, but came into his own during the match competition, dominating at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. He won his first four matches 4 and 3 -- this means he was winning by a lot of strokes -- before a relatively calm 2 and 1 win in the semis. The final round was a 36-hole contest against Goss, an Australian who attends Tennessee and is distinctly not related to Northwestern golf coach Pat Goss.

With the win, Fitz earns invitations to the British Open, U.S. Open, and the Masters, so we'll get to see him play golf from time to time. He's now the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world. So, Northwestern has somebody who is the best non-professional player of their sport, and now he's playing that sport non-professionally for Northwestern.

It's kinda like a big deal. Previous winners include Tiger Woods (thrice), Phil Mickelson, and a host of other current PGA Tour competitors.

We don't pay attention to Northwestern golf a lot -- it's tough, since their competitions aren't in the Chicago area and generally aren't televised -- but it's worth noting that this Fitzpatrick kid is a damn superstar.

The football team is great, but we're talking about somebody who's incredibly elite, which we have with the women's lacrosse team. It'll be cool to see him compete for national titles -- perhaps there's even enough talent on the team besides him for them to make a run at a national championship themselves -- and it'll be cool claiming him when he eventually leaves school and goes professional.

Oh, and kid got to throw out the first pitch at Fenway Saturday:

So we now have a Fitz-Pat competition between Matt and Pat Fitzgerald! Judging from the photo, he's even learning Fitz 1.0's fist-pumping.

Fun facts! Kid HAS NEVER HAD GOLF AS HIS NO. 1 PRIORITY (spent the last two years studying for exams in Britain, played just four hours of golf a week) and he was caddied by his little bro. Awww.

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