(BROOKLINE, MA) - A playoff was looming Sunday in the U.S. Open, just like it always does at The Country Club, when Matt Fitzpatrick sized up his shot from a bunker left of the 18th fairway. He had a 1-shot lead over Will Zalatoris and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler. He had a big patch of rough-filled turf in front of him, along with a gaping bunker protecting the green and a flag 156 yards away. Nothing less than a U.S. Open title was on the line. Fitzpatrick hit 9-iron that started around the steep lip; a "squeezy fade,'' he called it; carried the front bunker and settled 18 feet away, setting up a par for a 2 under 68 that made the Englishman a major champion for his first professional win in America. He won the U.S. Amateur at Brookline in 2013, making him the 13th man to win both the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Open in his career, and only the second to win both on the same course. Zalatoris, with remarkable resiliency during a tense battle at Brookline, had a 15-foot birdie to force a playoff. He dropped to his knees when the putt slid by the left edge of the cup. He shot 69 and was runner-up for the third time in the past seven majors. The payoff was $3.15 million and a major championship. Fitzpatrick, 27, finished at 6 under 274. He became the first Englishman since Justin Rose in 2013 to win the U.S. Open, and the youngest player from England to win a major since Tony Jacklin at the 1970 U.S. Open.