DORAL — Sure, Alex Fitzpatrick officially became a member of the PGA Tour, is exempt through the 2028 season and has a spot on all the Signature Events for the rest of 2026.
All the result of winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans while playing with his brother, Matt.
But the Fitzpatricks’ victory meant much more. Alex, 27, now has earned the right to join golf’s royalty … in Palm Beach County.
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Now that his schedule will shift from internationally based to U.S. based playing on the PGA Tour, Alex will start looking to settle close to his brother, who has risen to No. 3 in the world rankings.
Matt, who has won three times on the PGA Tour this season, lives in North Palm Beach.
“The security now is pretty nice,” Alex said. “I can actually settle down somewhere for once, not just travel everywhere around the world. I’m looking forward to having my own space.”
Alex already is a member at Dye Preserve in Jupiter. But with a schedule that has taken him from Australia, to an island nation off Africa, to Dubai, Bahrain, Kenya, Qatar, South Africa, India — all this calendar year — the trips to South Florida have not been frequent.
“I didn’t get there that often, but every time I go there’s some of the best players in the world there,” he said.
Another benefit, he says, of becoming part of the richest (literally and figuratively) spot in the world for professional golfers.
“Being able to be there more and compete against them guys, even if it’s just some money matches or anything … it will be really good for my game,” he said.
Alex Fitzpatrick scheduled to play in Turkish Airlines Open this week
Fitzpatrick is a bit overwhelmed since that April 26th victory at TPC Louisiana. The reality of how winning on the PGA Tour can be a life-changing event hit when his first order was canceling a flight from New Orleans to Turkey — where he was scheduled to play in the Turkish Airlines Open — and rebooking for Miami, where he is preparing for the Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral.
“That made it a little easier,” he said, in the understatement of the week.
What makes this even more of bombshell for a player whose status on the DP World Tour was in jeopardy just last fall … he did not know he was playing for PGA Tour status until after the third round at Zurich.
That’s when the questions came about what was on the line in the final round.
“The week was really about playing with my brother, spending time with my brother, and enjoying time as a family,” Alex said.
Once he did his research, everything changed.
“Saturday night, my brother told me he slept like a log and I was like, ‘I don’t know how,’ ” Alex said. “I was up until probably 3 a.m. thinking, well, what happens if we play well tomorrow.”
They played just well enough. It wasn’t until Matt’s clutch shot out of the bunker on No. 18 led to an Alex tap in, securing a one-shot victory over the team of West Palm Beach’s Kristoffer Reitan and Kris Ventura.
Alex Fitzpatrick win at Zurich life-altering: ‘Doesn’t feel real’
Alex is not easing into his newfound membership. He dropped into the busiest stretch of the year when it comes to majors and Signature Events.
His first three starts as member of the PGA Tour are two Signature Events — Cadillac, Truist Championship — and the PGA Championship.
Which is why when asked how he is preparing for Cadillac, Alex said, “I have no idea, to be honest with you. Just hopefully I’ll hit the first fairway and then I’ll go from there.
“I don’t have a clue what’s going on, I’m not going to lie to you,” he admitted. “Playing against the best players of the world all of a sudden and even like the purses are obviously much bigger and … I’m just excited to be here and hopefully play some good golf.”
That ‘aha moment’ will come at 1:20 p.m. on April 29 when Fitzpatrick is announced and then tees off paired with Nico Echavarria, the winner of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches.
Fitzpatrick will be making his 12th start in a PGA Tour event. He has played in 87 DP World Tour events, winning once, in India in March.
The Fitzpatrick brothers each earned just more than $1.37 million at Zurich. For Matt, someone who has made more than $40 million in PGA Tour prize money alone, it’s pocket change.
For Alex, it’s about one-third of his career earnings on the PGA and DP World Tours combined.
That number can increase significantly with any kind of success at three events with purses at, or just shy of, $20 million.
“I sat down with my caddie Monday morning, we had breakfast together, and we looked at some of the events and it was like .. wow, this is crazy, this doesn’t feel real,” Alex said.
“And even walking on to the range (Monday) afternoon, was like … it feels weird to be here. This is something I’m not used to. So, yeah, going to try and hopefully make it feel more like home and hopefully play some good golf.”
And join golf’s exclusive community.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Alex Fitzpatrick’s PGA Tour win means he can join golf’s ‘royalty’
Reporting by Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
