Moments after Matt Fitzpatrick pulled off a miraculous bunker shot to win the Zurich Classic, his phone buzzed with a message from Rory McIlroy that was as unfiltered as it was hilarious.

“What a ******* bunker shot!”

The Englishman was sitting 35 feet away from the cup in the sand. It was the third shot on the par-5 18th hole. They needed a birdie to win the 2026 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. And Fitzpatrick hit a masterful wedge to set up Alex for a one-foot birdie.

To go from a deep greenside bunker 35 feet away to just one foot from the hole was phenomenal. Then again, the Grand Slam champion has first-hand experience of how good Fitzpatrick really is. The Englishman beat McIlroy in the playoffs of the 2025 DP World Tour Championship a few months ago.

Coming back to the conversation, the brothers had complete faith in each other’s abilities. While Fitzpatrick didn’t finish the hole with his stroke, he trusted Alex to get the job done for them. Even after their dominating performance in the penultimate round, the elder sibling had nothing but praise for his younger brother.

“He was brilliant today. He was faultless, truly. He played fantastic, and he played fantastic yesterday as well. He played brilliant golf both last two days. His game has really turned a corner these last few months, and I believe in him to continue that trend. He’s doing all the right things, and obviously it was nice for him to have such a big impact there on the back nine to continue what the front nine brought,” Fitzpatrick told the reporters in the post-round presser.

That said, fans reacted to McIlroy’s NSFW statement.

The internet had only one thing to say about Rory McIlroy’s reaction to Matt Fitzpatrick

Rory McIlroy’s message reminded fans of the iconic moment from the Northern Irishman’s victory at TPC Louisiana in 2024, not because of how dominating he and Shane Lowry were against the Fitzpatricks, but because of how they celebrated the win.

As one fan asked Alex Fitzpatrick, “Song Alex Song 😜😂.”

The brothers must have seen McIlroy and Lowry perform ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ after they lifted the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans title. That was the most iconic moment of the tournament that year. With the Fitzpatricks being the second European duo to win the title after them, it’s only right for them to follow the same route.

Another wrote, “Imagine not singing, though Rory did it.” Someone else also said, “they should’ve sang Rory, did it.”

The brothers were asked what their favorite song was and if they were going to sing. But they flat-out rejected the idea. Matt stated that he doesn’t want to ruin the atmosphere because he is a terrible singer. Well, no one was handing out Grammys to McIlroy for his performance.

One of the fans commented, “I bet if @katherinefitz was there these two would be singing up a STORM! #WAGFan 😂😂😂😂.”

Katherine Fitzpatrick certainly has the most energetic personality in the group. She would have jumped at the opportunity of performing on stage in front of a live audience.

A comment read, “‘🎶 Don’t stop believin’, Hold on to that feelin’ 🎶’ @mattfitz94 @alex_fitz9 👏🏼”

Had this been a live comments section, then Fitzpatrick probably would have caught on. But fans shared the video much later, after the event.