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 contest which was held on a specially-constructed tee at Rennaissance’s par-three 15th hole.
Fitzpatrick, taking part in his second Hero Challenge, beat Graeme McDowell in his semi-final, which went to a nearest-the-pin play-off, as Kuchar beat Lucas Bjerregaard in his semi-final, which also required a sudden-death shootout. Also taking part were Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Thomas, who both lost in the opening round.
“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. 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. 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 Hero Challenge trophy by Dr Pawan Munjal, the chairman of event sponsors Hero MotoCorp Ltd, the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters.