Matt Fitzpatrick has revealed a call to a Ukrainian ex-girlfriend has helped to give him a new perspective on his golf career. A harrowing phone call to the Ukrainian-born former partner, whose family still live in Lviv, has made the 27-year-old think about the importance of winning at golf and the balance in his life.

He told MailOnline: “She was telling me about her gran who had a couple of strokes recently and can hardly walk, so she can’t go anywhere. Then she told me about her uncle who had just packed his bags and was off to fight tomorrow. 

“I was sitting there in Florida ready to practise and it hit me, the contrast between the fact he might never come back and what I do. I’d already decided to be a little easier on myself this year and appreciate all that I have but that phone call just emphasised I don’t want to be miserable for the rest of my life worrying about winning golf tournaments. Sure, I want to win but there has to be a balance.”

The Ryder Cup star admitted that he’s piled extra pressure on himself during Majors, and his form had suffered as a result, so he was already open to trying to place less importance on winning.

“I think 100% I’ve got too worked up about them in the past,” he said. “The people around me say that I’m different in a Major week and while I can’t see it myself it’s something that I need to work on. I feel that I’m a different player now to 2015-18, so hopefully I can relax in the Majors and it will start to show.”

Fitzpatrick has won seven times on the DP International formerly European) Tour, but is yet to taste victory on the PGA Tour. He’s in action this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he opened with a one-over-par 73 on Thursday. He came closest to breaking his PGA Tour duck at his very tournament back in 2019, when he finished runner-up to Francesco Molinari.