After failing to get up and down for par and a one-shot victory on the 18th hole, Matt Fitzpatrick hit one of the best shots of his life on the same hole to win a playoff with Scottie Scheffler.
Standing 204 yards from the hole in the 18th fairway of the first playoff hole, Fitzpatrick hit a 4-iron at the flagstick that stopped 13 feet, 4 inches away.
After Scheffler, whose approach came up 37 yards short of the green, pitched to 8½ feet, Fitzpatrick rolled in the left-to-right-breaking birdie putt to defeat the world’s No. 1 golfer and win the RBC Heritage.
“To hit the 4-iron that I hit there was out of this world,” said Fitzpatrick, who had won the tournament in 2023 in a playoff with Jordan Spieth and moved from seventh to third in the Official World Golf Ranking.
“To win it twice means the world. To go out today and go toe-to-toe with Scottie and get over the line there on the 73rd hole is special.”
It was the fourth career victory for Fitzpatrick, 31, and his second win of the season. He won the Valspar Championship last month after finishing second in The Players Championship the week before.
“I definitely have high confidence right now for sure,” said the Englishman, who earned $3.6 million for the Signature event win. “The ball is obviously going where I intend it to go.
“I know there’s things that I can still improve in certain areas. So that’s obviously exciting, given the results I’ve achieved so far and what’s to come.”
Strong Weekend for Scheffler
Fitzpatrick shots rounds of 65-63-68-70 for an 18-under total on the par-71 Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, S.C.
Scheffler opened with rounds of 68-67 to fall seven shots behind Fitzpatrick. He rallied by shooting 64-67 on the weekend. It was his second consecutive runner-up finish, having placed a shot behind Rory McIlroy at the Masters.
“I think in both weeks I put myself behind the eight-ball going into the weekend and had really nice Saturdays and Sundays in order to get myself into contention,” Scheffler said. “On Sunday it’s a shot here or there that makes a difference.
“This was one of those weeks where anytime Fitzy needed something to happen, he made something happen. He definitely earned the win, and he just played great golf.”
Fitzpatrick Hung in with Scheffler Charging
Leading Scheffler by three shots going into the final round, Fitzpatrick birdied two of the first three holes, then made 14 straight pars until bogeying the 18th. Meanwhile Scheffler, his playing partner, had two birdies on the front and birdies on 15 and 16 to come within a shot.
In regulation, both men missed the 18th green. Scheffler chipped his third from 70 feet to 18 inches to save his par. Fitzpatrick, chipping from 69 feet, came up 22 feet short and missed what would have been the winning putt.
His 4-iron approach on the playoff flipped the script of fan favorite Scheffler winning his second RBC Heritage.
“I knew Scottie was going to make some birdies down the stretch,” Fitzpatrick said, “and I kind of had to hang in there a little bit.”
While those two battled head to head, Si Woo Kim closed with a 68 to finish in third place, two strokes back. Collin Morikawa (67), Harris English (69) and Ludvig Åberg (70) tied for fourth at 13 under.
Fitzpatrick Looking Forward to Zurich Team Event
Fitzpatrick and his brother Alex will partner at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Both have won this season, Alex winning the DP World Tour’s Hero Indian Open three weeks ago.
Among the two-man teams are defending champs Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak and Brooks Koepka and Shane Lowry. Each team plays four-ball (best ball) on Thursday and foursomes (alternate shot) on Friday. After the cut, the top 33 teams and ties play four-ball on Saturday and foursomes on Sunday.
