Matt Fitzpatrick has revealed he remarkably snubbed Gareth Bale before the Welshman went on to score a hat-trick against his beloved Sheffield United. Fitzpatrick teed it up alongside Bale in a practice round ahead of this week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Bale is making his PGA Tour debut at the Pro-Am event as one of 156 amateurs in the field. Earlier in the week he joined US Open champion Fitzpatrick out on the Pebble Beach course to get some pre-tournament prep in.
The Englishman was left impressed by the former Real Madrid star's golf game, admitting: "He's obviously a good player. He's obviously got a lot of talent. Yeah, he was impressive.”
Their meeting out on the iconic course was not their first encounter though, with Fitzpatrick admitting his brother - and fellow golfer - Alex had previously been approached by Bale to join his management team. Fitzpatrick said: "We each have a running joke.
"The first time I kind of got to know him a little bit, he was looking to sign my brother." Fitzpatrick then revealed that Bale - who was playing for Tottenham Hotspur at the time - joked that if his brother did team up, the Welshman would not score three goals against their boyhood club Sheffield United in their upcoming Premier League clash with Spurs.
The Fitzpatricks went on to decline the offer, and in typical Bale fashion he lived up to his word as he went on to net a hat-trick in Spurs 4-0 win over the Blades back in May 2021. Alluding to this, the US Open champion added: "I ended up having a conversation with him and his manager and he jokingly said to me, ‘If you sign for my management company I'll not score three goals against your team’. My team being Sheffield United.
“Obviously I didn't sign. I'm happy with where I'm at. He decided to score three goals against my team. Just by pure, obviously, pure chance. And I just remember watching the game and he scored all three and I was laughing. Obviously [I was] disappointed as well.
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“I got sent a picture. Normally, in football, after the game is done, if a player scores a hat-trick, all the players in the team sign the ball. And I just got this picture of a signed ball from him. So, yeah, he's a pretty impressive individual, to be fair. He's achieved a lot in his game.”
Fitzpatrick kicked off his 2023 season with a solid one-under-par 71 in his opening round at Pebble Beach, leaving him in a tie for 61st. Bale meanwhile has made his mark on the amateur side of the draw, with he and his professional partner Joseph Bramlett carding an impressive seven-under-par 65 on day one.
