Matt Fitzpatrick made the perfect start to his week at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open as he won the Hero Challenge title at The Renaissance Club.
The 2016 Ryder Cup player defeated Matt Kuchar, who won last year’s Hero Challenge at Edinburgh Castle, in the final of the fast and fun night golf contest, held on a specially-constructed tee at the par three 15th hole.
Fitzpatrick, taking part in his second Hero Challenge, defeated 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell in their semi-final, which went to a nearest-the-pin play-off, as Kuchar beat Lucas Bjerregaard in their semi-final, which also required a sudden-death shootout.
“It was good fun out there, I had to do it the hard way.” said Fitzpatrick. “It was great to get the win, it suits me having to hit low shots. Matt is a great player, obviously he won the Hero Challenge last year, but he’s a proper golfer. The whole evening was really good fun. It was nice go out there on a Tuesday night and get the crowd fired up for the week ahead.
Matt Fitzpatrick wins the #HeroChallenge 🏆
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) July 9, 2019
That Kuchar walk-off 🙈 pic.twitter.com/5q0Odkleyo
“My caddie and I walked the course this afternoon when the weather wasn’t too good, so to see so many people out there supporting us was great.”
Fitzpatrick was presented with the trophy by Dr Pawan Munjal, the Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Hero MotoCorp Ltd - the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters.
He was joined in the second Hero Challenge of the 2019 season by two-time European Tour winner Lucas Bjerregaard, 2018 Ryder Cup star Tyrrell Hatton, nine-time US PGA Tour winner Matt Kuchar, 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell and former World Number One Justin Thomas.
This is the fourth successive season in which the British Masters was preceded by the Hero Challenge, the innovative event having made its debut in 2016 at The Grove.
The Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open takes place at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick for the first time, with one of the latest additions to the famous stretch in East Lothian known as Scotland’s Golf Coast hosting the third Rolex Series event of the 2019 season. Tickets for the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open are available here.
