The selfish reason Alex Fitzpatrick caddied for Matt at the US Amateur

Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick’s emotional win at the Zurich Classic last week it wasn’t the first time the brothers teamed up for a big win. In 2013, a 13-year-old Alex accompanied Matt during his victory in the US Amateur at Country Club.

If you thought this would be a dream come true for preschooler Alex, you were wrong.

It turns out that Fitzpatrick’s parents had to bribe their little boy with a shiny new gadget to convince him to carry Matt’s bag that week, as Alex explained on Tuesday in 2026 Cadillac Championship.

Alex Fitzpatrick ready to step out of Matt’s shadow after PGA Tour promotion

For most of their lives, Alex Fitzpatrick had to live in the shadow of his older brother. Matt Fitzpatrick showed signs of greatness early on.

He backed them up with one career-changing win at the 2022 US Openon the very same course, Brookline Country Club, where he won the US Amateur with Alex in the bag nine years ago.

Matt is currently on the hottest streak of his career, having won three PGA Tour events since the end of March to climb to World No. 3. But Alex is free.

After picking up his first win on the DP World Tour in March, he did it with Matt at the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans last week, for what he expected was just a good opportunity to “spend time with my brother.”

Alex got the family time he wanted, but also walked away with a win, giving him a PGA Tour card for two yearsover $1 million in prize money and seats in the remaining Signature Events.

So while Matt is taking it easy this week after his third win of the year, Alex is in Florida playing the Cadillac Championship.

Alex Fitzpatrick uncovers the parents’ bribery scheme to get him to caddy for Matt

During his pre-tournament press conference, Fitzpatrick was asked about his original partnership with his brother Matt at the 2013 US Amateur.

For outsiders, it was a fairytale week that harkened back to Francis Ouimet’s US Open victory in Brookline a hundred years ago, when 10-year-old Eddie Lowery carried his famous bag.

For Alex, the atmosphere was very different. In fact, he wanted nothing to do with Matt that week. Their father, Russell Fitzpatrick, was then forced to take an extreme measure to make it happen: bribery. He promised to buy Alex a new phone if he took Matt on tour.

“I only caddied for (Matt) at the US Amateur because my dad promised me a new phone,” Alex revealed at his press conference Tuesday at Trump Doral. “That was the only reason I boxed them, because it was too expensive to buy a box for the week, so I dragged myself into that.”

Alex added that he actually got his new phone after Matt won, calling it a “win-win.”

“And then he won and then I got a new phone, so it was a win-win all around,” he joked.

It’s been a whirlwind few days since the Zurich triumph, but now Alex is determined to design his own PGA Tour career saw his brother at his side, starting in the Cadillac Championship.

While Matt won’t be there in person, he sent Alex a touching note of encouragement for Cadillac the morning after their win in Zurich.

“He just said, you know, he told me enjoy it. He sent me a really nice message the next morning that was like, you know, as long as this win is both of us, you deserve to be here, you’re playing great golf, go out there and show them what you’ve got and just try to enjoy it as much as you can, that was the biggest message from him,” Alex said Tuesday.

Fitzpatrick tees off for the first round of his young PGA Tour career on Thursday at 1:20 PM ET.