Alex Fitzpatrick maintains momentum at Castlerock

Alex Fitzpatrick continued his recent fine form as a birdie blitz steered him to an opening 66 at the ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics.

The brother of 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt turned professional on the island of Ireland just over 12 months ago at the Horizon Irish Open and has since been making good progress in the paid ranks in 2023.

He registered three top tens on the European Challenge Tour before finishing in an eye-catching tie for 17th at The Open Championship on his Major debut.

A first professional win followed at the British Challenge presented by Modest! Golf Management two weeks ago and while he missed the cut last week, he was back in the groove at Castlerock Golf Club.

He set the early pace with five birdies in a row from the 11th and while he dropped a shot at the first, he regained it at the ninth to sit at five under.

“I think I made five birdies in a row which was a nice way to start the day," he said. "I just kept hitting greens and made a couple of putts and just went on a bit of a run, which was nice.

"The wind started to pick up a lot which made it harder to hit greens and give yourself chances. I stuck in well and grinded out a decent score. Happy to be where I am.

“I holed a long putt on 14, the par three. I think it was 20 foot down the hill, quite a tricky putt. It was nice to get that one and then follow it up with one on the short par five. I played nicely.

“On the par five, I think I had 25 foot, 30 foot, I hit the putt and with about two feet to go it looked like it was going in and I thought ‘oh goodness’ and I said it out loud then it lipped out. My playing partners were laughing at me. It was nice to make that many."

Fitzpatrick will play his second round at Galgorm, which proved a trougher test than the links of Castlerock on day one, but he is ready for everything the inland layout can throw at him.

“I think Galgorm is a tough golf course from what I know and it will play really soft," he said.

"I think it’s meant to rain and be windy again. I’ll try and stick in there and grind out a score and move onto the weekend and see how that goes.”