At U.S. Open, Matt Fitzpatrick First PGA Tour Win Comes at a Major

Matt Fitzpatrick of England celebrating with the U.S. Open Championship trophy after winning on Sunday.Credit...Andrew Redington/Getty ImagesBROOKLINE, Mass. — This year’s U.S. Open began as the setting for an unprecedented showdown between golfers who had remained loyal to the established PGA Tour and a breakaway pack of ex-colleagues who recently joined the new, rebel, Saudi-backed LIV Golf series. But the anticipated confrontation at the Country Club outside Boston fizzled in the first round Thursday when golfers from both camps got along without friction.

The LIV Golf-aligned players also faded from contention early.

By Sunday, the ongoing split in men’s professional golf was hardly…