Width & Angles: March 22nd, 2026
Fitzpatrick revenge, David vs Goliath (Bryson v Rahm)
Sneaky great week in golf. Copperhead showed its teeth at the Valspar with -11 getting it done, while in South Africa, Bryson and Rahm were mudding it out down the stretch in a crazy arena.
Matt Fitzpatrick
Matty Fitz comes back after his heartbreaking loss at The Players to birdie the 18th and win the Valspar Championship. Fitz has handled the past week extraordinarily well, showing a combination of sportsmanship, competitiveness, and grit.
I would argue that when Fitz is on, he’s one of the best players in the world. There are only a few players I feel could go toe-to-toe with Scottie down the stretch at a major, and I’ve now officially added Fitz to that list:
Rory
Bryson
Rahm
Fitz
The Valspar
The Valspar Championship should hopefully be converted into one of the signature events on the PGA Tour in Brian Rolapp’s new PGA Tour in 2028. The Copperhead Course is routinely one of the toughest tests on Tour and forces pros to hit a ton of uncomfortable shots.
We don’t get many courses like this throughout the year outside of the majors and a handful of events. I hope Rolapp recognizes this and ensures Copperhead becomes a signature stop somewhere on the schedule.
LIV South Africa
LIV was in South Africa this week, and it might have turned into one of the best LIV events in history. Not only did they have their two superstars battling down the stretch and into a playoff, but the atmosphere looked like pure mayhem with the fans and the Southern Guards’ home crowd.
From a golf purist’s point of view, I’d argue the Anthony Kim comeback was more compelling than this weekend - but Rahm and Bryson bring the ratings.
I can’t lie, I watched the recap because I wanted to see the playoff shots.
Bryson
Bryson is such an interesting needle in golf. If he can content and potentially win The Masters it might be one of the most popular (for better or worse) wins in the history of the game. I am so excited to see what he is going to bring to the table for content during Masters week - he truly could say/do anything and it is a fascinating human experiment. His new Reebok sponsor ship looks absolutely awful and he needs to figure out a way to drop that. His pants look like they don’t have any material and his shoes look like something of this nature:
Random Thoughts
Cam Smith do you play golf anymore?
Should we host a US Open in June at the Copperhead course? See who can survive the temperature and a tough course
Dean Burmester is too much
Bryson’s pants are far too tight (needs to dump Reebok)
South African sport culture is equal part historic and insane
Personal note: The Callaway Quantum is sick (still a stupid name)
Rankings!
Welcome David Puig to Team Aura
Matty Fitz to GOOD
