Matt Fitzpatrick revealed he uses Major Championship wins to measure golfing greatness after Friday's battling 70 left him in a strong position at the halfway stage of the 122nd U.S. Open Championship.
Starting at the tenth tee on day two, the Englishman reached the turn in 34 after following up a bogey on the 11th with close-range birdies at the 12th and 15th.
Three bogeys in a row from the second looked like derailing Fitzpatrick's challenge but he bounced back with a six-foot birdie at the fifth before picking up another shot on the eighth to head into the weekend on two under par.
The 27-year-old is no stranger to this week's host venue, having won the 2013 US Amateur Championship at The Country Club, Brookline.
Fitzpatrick holds the Major Championships in high regard, and if history repeats itself and he returns to the winner's circle at Brookline on Sunday, he would view his maiden Major title as "extra special".
The 2021 swing of @MattFitz94 🧐#USOpen pic.twitter.com/DyApFCwJ3e
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 17, 2022
"They're what's important," said seven-time DP World Tour winner Fitzpatrick, who finished in a tie for fifth at the US PGA Championship last month.
"Me and my best pal, who's my manager as well, we've made our own category of legends of the game.
"We've kind of said, if you've got six Majors you're a legend of the game. That's how important the Majors are.
"You are sort of put up on this pedestal of where the greats are.
"At the end of the day you only get four attempts a year, and that's if you're in them. Some guys maybe don't play four and play one or two.
"To win one is extra special, and to win one is also extra impressive given that there's so few of them."
