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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Fitzpatrick is known as the affable half of the act known as the "Flying Fitzpatricks" that has taken the PGA TOUR by storm in the last month. Even Matt, the older and more famous of the two, admits that.

It’s that charisma and exuberance that have made Alex’s success over the past three weeks such an enthralling storyline. It helps that he’s also played well enough to turn the tables on reporters’ questions about the brothers.

“It's funny because for years it was always, 'How's Matt doing? How's Matt doing?'" Matt said Sunday, just after Alex teed off in the Truist’s final group. “And now all I get is, ‘How's Alex doing? How's Alex doing?'”

That’s saying something, considering that Matt is among the early contenders for the PGA TOUR’s Player of the Year award. He has a TOUR-leading three victories in 2026, including the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which he won alongside Alex. It was that win on April 26 that gave the younger brother status on the TOUR.

Alex, on the other hand, may be the current frontrunner for Rookie of the Year honors.

His quick success on TOUR, against the best players in the world, has made him the TOUR’s easy-to-root-for underdog over the past fortnight of Signature Events. It was fun watching someone live out their dream in real time and meet everything thrown their way with aplomb and a smile.

Lest anyone question if he could succeed without his brother by his side, Alex finished ninth at last week’s Cadillac Championship, his debut as a PGA TOUR member, and held the lead entering Sunday’s final round at the Truist Championship.

It was an incredible run considering that last fall Alex was worried about losing his DP World Tour card, and up until the last week of March, he didn’t own a DP World Tour title.

Alex, 27, started the year ranked 203rd in the world. Now he’s 22nd in the FedExCup after just three PGA TOUR starts.

Unfortunately, the Cinderella story didn’t see its completion on Sunday. Alex shot 2-over 73 to finish fourth, three shots behind winner Kristoffer Reitan.

“I'm disappointed not to have won, but I'm also really proud of myself for how I battled out there,” Alex said. “I was 3 over through three and then in my head I'm thinking I could shoot 81 here. So, yeah, I felt like I was super happy that I was very patient.”

It was a rough start Sunday for Alex, who drove into a divot on the second hole and heard a sound in his backswing on the next hole. But he birdied three of the first four holes on the back nine and had a chance to catch Reitan until a double-bogey on the 17th hole.

Still, Alex called the last four weeks “amazing.” And now he heads into the PGA Championship, only the second major of his career, as one of the hottest players on the planet. The Truist was his fourth consecutive top-10 finish worldwide.

Playing through

• 🥲 If you like emotional reactions from your winners, check out Brandt Snedeker after he won the OneFlight Myrtle Beach Classic, his 10th PGA TOUR win and first since 2018 ...
• 🇮🇪 Like at Augusta National, a Saturday night range session helped Rory McIlroy get his swing back on track. It didn’t help him win this week, but it should pay dividends for the PGA Championship ...
• 🟠 After fighting a fever in the first round, Rickie Fowler dominated the final 54 holes at the Truist Championship en route to his best finish since 2022 ...

Closer look at TOUR's freshest face

Alex Fitzpatrick isn’t the only player whose life has changed dramatically over the past few weeks. Not even the lone European.

One of the beautiful aspects of professional golf is how much a player’s life can change in just a matter of days. In Kristoffer Reitan’s case, even a double-bogey had a large (and positive) impact on his career. It was that six that got Reitan into this week’s field, and he went on to win the Truist Championship for his first PGA TOUR title.

To explain, let’s go back to last week’s Cadillac Championship. Reitan was a late entrant into the field, getting in as an alternate. He was in second place entering the final round, but shot 73 to drop into 14th place. That included a double-bogey on Doral’s famous finishing hole.

When Reitan arrived at the 18th hole, he was not in the field for this week. When he finished it, despite making six, he was.

He was informed by Norwegian reporters that because his double and another player’s bogey moved Alex Smalley up the leaderboard, Smalley got into the Truist via the Aon Next 10. That opened up a spot in the Aon Swing 5 for Reitan.

Reitan called it “bizarre” that he benefited from his own double-bogey, but he made the most of the opportunity.

Reitan leapt to 13th in the FedExCup and 25th in the Official World Golf Ranking with the win.

It’s especially impressive considering he was giving YouTube golf a try just a couple of years ago.

“I was, at that point, considering whether or not I wanted to continue playing professionally,” Reitan said. “So, yeah, I just had some thoughts about how to make the game a little bit more fun, a little bit more relaxed. Yeah, I think YouTube golf would have given me maybe some of that fun competitiveness back.”

YouTube can wait.

Parting shots

• 🔄 It was an unexpected final round for Cameron Young, who started the final round in third place. Young, who won his second PGA TOUR title of the season last week, seemed poised to continue his incredible 2026. But a final-round 74 dropped him into 10th place. Young four-putted from 15 feet on the second hole and made just one birdie Sunday. Young had finished in the top three in all but one of his previous five starts. On the bright side, Young has taken the lead in a tight FedExCup race with Matt Fitzpatrick and Scottie Scheffler.
• 😓 J.J. Spaun struggled to start 2026, admitting that he was having a hard time dealing with the new expectations that arose after his incredible 2025. Spaun seems to be finding a rhythm, though. He won the Valero Texas Open and now has three straight top-25 finishes in Signature Events, with each finish getting progressively better. He was T25 at RBC Heritage, T14 at the Cadillac and then fifth at the Truist. He’s rounding into form just in time for the PGA Championship and his U.S. Open defense.
• 🔧 Matt Fitzpatrick finished first or second in four of his last five starts. That run ended at the Truist, where he finished T52. One contributing factor? “My driver cracked on Wednesday before the pro-am, didn't have time to really do any testing or anything,” he said. “Put one in, not 100% comfortable with it, so kind of struggled with that a little bit this week. Didn't feel like I hit my irons as close as I could have. I chipped it okay. Didn't hole a putt. So probably explains why I'm almost last.”