NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Alex Fitzpatrick was whisked around Aronimink by golf cart to make some national media hits — life is good when you're trendy in the golf world — and could only laugh at one stop when asked about comments made by his older brother earlier in the day suggesting that Alex is the messy one in a shared house.
“Here we go again,” Alex Fitzpatrick said with a laugh.
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Alex Fitzpatrick, of England, hits off the third tee during the final round of the Truist Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Alex Fitzpatrick, of England, reacts with his caddie after a birdie on the fifth hole during the final round of the Truist Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Alex Fitzpatrick, of England, chips on the 15th hole during the final round of the Truist Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Alex Fitzpatrick practices on the ninth hole before the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Aronimink Golf Club Monday, May 11, 2026, in Newtown Square, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Matt Fitzpatrick, right, and Alex Fitzpatrick walk down the ninth hole during practice before the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Aronimink Golf Club Monday, May 11, 2026, in Newtown Square, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Hold up, the younger Fitzpatrick said.
Time to clear the air — and clean the room — it's actually big brother Matt who can be a bit unkempt, especially in the bathroom.
“I’m a normal brush my teeth at night guy,” Alex said after practice rounds Monday. “He's got all these different things on the side of the counter and stuff. I'm not as bad as what he makes it out to be. He's exaggerating a lot. He's a bit of a neat freak.”
The brothers out of Sheffield, England can agree more these days that it might be better to share a trophy — as they did in April when they won the Zurich Classic team event — than share a house.
Only one can win at the PGA Championship this weekend at Aronimink Golf Club and each brother is a strong contender to win the first major in the Philadelphia region since the 2013 US Open at Merion.
Matt Fitzpatrick has three PGA Tours wins this season while Alex shared one win with his brother and entered Sunday with the lead at Quail Hollow before a double bogey on 17 derailed his shot at winning the Truist Open.
It’s rare for brothers to win in tandem on the PGA Tour. There haven’t historically been many team events, but brothers Danny and David Edwards did it at the Walt Disney World Team Championship in 1980.
“I think a lot of people feel like that once they get to this stage or even to the DP World Tour that they need to change a bunch of things and that’s going to help success,” Alex said. “I just felt like I keep doing what I’m trying to do. I’ve got a circle around me that I really trust. All the advice that I get is great.”
Alex has finished tied for ninth and fourth in his first two signature events since the Zurich Classic and has won about $2.84 million over that span. Pretty good for a golfer who wasn't on the PGA Tour before that date.
A day later, Alex tried to put the late fade at Quail Hollow behind him as he practiced for the PGA.
“I think if I looked back two months ago and someone said you’d finish fourth at the Truist Championship, I’d have kicked myself," if he was crushed, Fitzpatrick said. “I was disappointed in just in that I wish I’d have scored a little better. Overall, it was a great week and I have no complaints.”
Little brother's recent hot streak has sparked a bit of a role reversal in their dynamic.
Alex Fitzpatrick is 27 — about 4 1/2 years younger than Matt — which has led to years of answering questions about his brother.
Matt Fitzpatrick was a U.S. Amateur champion in 2013 and the U.S. Open champion in 2022, both at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. He beat Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, in a playoff in April at Harbour Town.
“It can be such a blur at times, and I think it is trying to take a step back and kind of remember those moments, even on a week like this and think about, oh, yeah, I won the Valspar or I won Harbour Town, whatever it may be,” Matt said.
Fitzpatrick has enjoyed the roles this season of watching, winning — and analyzing — his younger brother.
“I have to get used to that now because he’s had it for much longer than me,” Matt said. “I’m probably known as Alex’s brother now, as opposed to him being Matt’s brother. I love talking about my brother. It’s an amazing position to be in to have that privilege to talk about how well he’s doing. I’d so much rather have these questions, conversations, than the opposite of, you know, why is he not playing well."
Maybe one of the brothers can talk Sunday about the feeling of winning a major.
“I’d say my head is still spinning and I haven’t woken up from the dream yet,” Alex said.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Alex Fitzpatrick, of England, hits off the third tee during the final round of the Truist Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Alex Fitzpatrick, of England, reacts with his caddie after a birdie on the fifth hole during the final round of the Truist Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Alex Fitzpatrick, of England, chips on the 15th hole during the final round of the Truist Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Alex Fitzpatrick practices on the ninth hole before the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Aronimink Golf Club Monday, May 11, 2026, in Newtown Square, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Matt Fitzpatrick, right, and Alex Fitzpatrick walk down the ninth hole during practice before the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Aronimink Golf Club Monday, May 11, 2026, in Newtown Square, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has spent 40 years chasing a return to the World Cup quarterfinals. On Sunday, its best chance in a generation arrives. Playing on home soil in a venue that has become an almost impregnable fortress, El Tri will face England in the Round of 16 — in what is arguably the most important match in Mexican soccer history.
Mexico boasts an incredible record in official matches at Estadio Azteca. Since the venue opened in 1966, the national team has suffered just two defeats there, the latter of which was over a decade ago against Honduras in September 2013.
“The stadium is a monster; that explains the high number of wins and draws, and the few losses — which were just accidents,” said Hugo Sánchez, the striker who played in the 1986 World Cup and now works as an ESPN analyst. “We approach this with optimism because we know it’s England, but if we play the way we did against Ecuador, we can beat them.”
The numbers back up the myth. Across the 1970, 1986, and current World Cups on home soil, Mexico has played 10 matches at Azteca, winning eight and drawing two. In this tournament alone, El Tri has secured three home wins without conceding a goal: 2-0 against South Africa and 3-0 against Czech Republic in the group stage, and 2-0 against Ecuador in the Round of 32. Mexico also defeated South Korea 1-0 in Guadalajara in the group stage.
It's the first time Mexico has started a World Cup by winning four consecutive matches.
“We have played three World Cups in Mexico; it is hard for me to say if it is (the biggest match). In 1970 we played Italy for the semifinals, in '86 we played Germany also for the semifinals,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said Saturday. “There have been several important matches in history and tomorrow is certainly one of them.”
These results have ignited the hopes of millions of Mexicans, many of whom weren’t even born the last time the nation reached the quarterfinals. After achieving that feat in 1986, Mexico’s World Cup history became a psychological hurdle: It missed the 1990 tournament, followed by seven consecutive, agonizing Round of 16 exits before failing to escape the group stage four years ago in Qatar.
“I’m one of those who couldn’t make it through; it happened to me in South Africa and Korea,” said Aguirre, who coached El Tri during those campaigns. “It’s deeply painful because you play a great group stage, only to be knocked out for a variety of reasons.”
Mexico's eliminations comprise a catalog of heartbreaks, including a penalty shootout loss to Bulgaria in 1994 when Aguirre was an assistant coach under Miguel Mejía Barón and defeats in 1998 and 2014 to Germany and the Netherlands when El Tri squandered late leads in the final minutes.
“We will be facing a top-four team in the world according to FIFA, a world champion in '66 and one country with a great league,” Aguirre said. “In order to beat them, we need to do a nearly perfect match and to be better than what we’ve been so far.”
Now, the script could flip. At Azteca — which sits 7,300 feet (2,200 meters) above sea level — Mexico will rely heavily on the altitude and the backing of a ferocious home crowd, as it did in the group stage.
“England is one of the great national teams in the history of football, with outstanding players. We all agreed that we wanted a match like this,” midfielder Alvaro Fidalgo said Saturday. “We are in great form, the Azteca is an intimidating venue, and ultimately, it’s a World Cup Round of 16 match. That’s never easy for anyone.”
England enters the knockout stage fresh off a 2-1 victory over Congo, powered by a pair of goals from star striker Harry Kane. Kane headlines an elite English squad that reached the quarterfinals at the last World Cup before falling to eventual finalist France.
A victory for the Three Lions would send them to the quarterfinals for the sixth time in their history — and the third consecutive time — keeping alive the dream of a title that has eluded them since 1966.
On paper, England holds the clear advantage in talent, led by Premier League standouts, whereas Mexico’s spearhead is Julián Quiñones, the top scorer in the Saudi League.
“We have very experienced players who play in the toughest leagues and the biggest clubs in the world. We all know these games from Champions League matches where you play up against, against the energy of a stadium and that we are prepared for that,” England coach Thomas Tuchel said Saturday. “We are prepared for strong start of the Mexican team. I guess they will they will try to give us a taste of intensity.”
However, the playing conditions could serve as the ultimate equalizer.
England arrived in the northern part of Mexico City on Friday night, a mere two days before kickoff. Sports scientists and altitude experts generally recommend two options for high-altitude competition: Arrive weeks in advance for full acclimatization or fly in as close as possible to kickoff. By choosing a 48-hour window, England has entered the dead zone experts warn against.
“We feel it. Even if we don’t train, we feel it. I felt a slight headache. And in the hotel room through the day, didn’t sleep as well as the days before, but nothing that you cannot handle,” Tuchel said. “It’s just what it is. We cannot physically adapt. It’s just impossible. But we are here one day before to experience it, at least to not have all the first time experience in the warm-up.”
To compound the strain, passionate Mexican fans are already plotting psychological warfare. Hundreds are expected to converge on England’s hotel to disrupt players' sleep — a tactic deployed against Ecuador, when fans used loudspeakers, drums and revving motorcycles into the early-morning hours.
England is attempting to remain unfazed.
“We had no issues last night. I think FIFA took care of the situation. And we have security around the hotel, so we expect a good night of sleep,” Tuchel said. “I don’t want to talk about problems that don’t exist yet.”
AP Soccer Writer James Robson in Atlanta contributed to this report.
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
Mexico head coach Javier Aguirre, left, talks with his assistant Toni Amor during a training session ahead of their World Cup round of 16 soccer match against England in Mexico City, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Mexico's Gilberto Mora, front, warms up during a training session ahead of the World Cup round of 16 soccer match against England in Mexico City, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Fans celebrate on Reforma Ave., near the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City, after Mexico's Julian Quinones scored against Ecuador during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Mexican fans wave flags as they watch the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Mexico and Ecuador near the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Mexico players celebrate after the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Mexico and Ecuador in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
