The Open: Pressure On 'Tiger-like' Scottie Scheffler, Believes Matt Fitzpatrick

Matt Fitzpatrick is hoping to sneak under the radar playing alongside Scottie Scheffler in Saturday's final group at The Open, insisting all the pressure is on the world number one.

Fitzpatrick put himself in contention for a second major of his career after carding a sensational second-round 66 to put himself at nine under heading into the weekend. 

But he still finds himself one adrift of the clubhouse lead after Scheffler dazzled again with a superb 64, in what was his lowest round at a major.

The American is on a 10-tournament streak of finishing at least in the top 10 with three victories in that run, including his third major triumph at the PGA Championship.

Fitzpatrick compared Scheffler's form to the dominance once seen by Tiger Woods, the only player so far to win The Open while ranked number one in the world.

And Fitzpatrick knows that if he is to become the first Englishman since Nick Faldo in 1992 to win the tournament, he must be at his very best to stop Scheffler. 

"Scottie is going to have the expectation to go out and dominate," Fitzpatrick said.

"He's an exceptional player, the world number one, and we're seeing Tiger-like stuff. I think the pressure is for him. I wouldn't say I feel as much pressure."

Fitzpatrick has, however, got the better of Scheffler at a major, pipping him to the US Open title in 2022, and the Briton has been enjoying a resurgence of form of late. 

The 30-year-old has impressed since shooting 78 and 72 to miss the cut in the Players Championship in March, which he described as the lowest point of his career.

He had managed a run of just one top-10 finish in the previous year and fell outside the top 80, but found his groove to finish fourth at the Scottish Open last week. 

In what is his 10th appearance at The Open, Fitzpatrick said it was nice to be back involved at the top of the leaderboard heading into the closing stages of a tournament. 

"I've given myself an opportunity, but there's still a long way to go," Fitzpatrick said. "There's nothing better than being in contention.

"It feels a bit uncomfortable at the time, but you want to feel that. It means you're doing something right.

"It's an exciting position for me to be in given where I was earlier this year."