England’s Matt Fitzpatrick didn’t flinch when more work was required on the final day of the RBC Heritage.
Fitzpatrick birdied the first playoff hole with a 13-foot putt to win the tournament after world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler forced the extra play Sunday in Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Fitzpatrick, whose bogey at No. 18 gave Scheffler new life, won for the second time this year to go with a runner-up finish in The Players Championship. He has four career victories on the tour, including two in this tournament (also 2023).
“To win it twice means the world,” Fitzpatrick said. “To go toe-to-toe with Scottie and get over the line at the 73rd (hole) is special.”
Fitzpatrick has four top-10 finishes in nine tournaments this year.
Scheffler recorded 67 and Fitzpatrick had 70 in the final round. They each posted 18-under 266s at Harbour Town Golf Links.
“(I) put up a good fight this week,” Scheffler said. “It was just one of those deals where I played three out of four days with Fitzy, and every time he needed something, he made something happen. … You name it, he was doing it, so he earned this one for sure.”
Fitzpatrick hit a 4-iron to the green on his second shot when the duo replayed the 18th hole to begin the playoff, while Scheffler needed three shots to reach the putting surface.
“I felt like I was in a good spot, and to hit the 4-iron that I hit there was out of this world,” Fitzpatrick said.
Scheffler pretty much agreed with that assessment.
“Fitzy made a great birdie there in the playoff,” Scheffler said. “An incredible birdie the way this hole is playing right now.”
Scheffler, who played alongside Fitzpatrick in the final grouping, made up three strokes across the last four holes to force the playoff.
Fitzpatrick posted birdies on two of the first three holes — sinking putts from 10 and 17 feet — and then dialed up pars nearly the rest of the way.
“Felt like I got off to a great start … and you feel like almost what could have been,” Fitzpatrick said. “I knew Scottie was going to make some birdies down the stretch and I had to kind of hang in there a little bit.”
South Korea’s Si Woo Kim’s birdie on No. 15 closed the gap to two strokes. Then Scheffler’s birdie on the 15th also drew him within two shots of Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick saved par on No. 16 after his tee shot was in the rough before Scheffler sank a birdie putt to make it a one-stroke margin.
On the 18th, Fitzpatrick’s first shot rolled into a fairway sand trap. He got out fine, but his chip onto the green stopped about 23 feet from the cup, and he ended up with his first bogey in 29 holes.
The tournament ended in a playoff for the fourth time in five years.
Kim (68) placed third at 16 under. Collin Morikawa (67), Harris English (69) and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (70) shared fourth place at 13 under. Aberg’s double bogey on No. 16 proved costly.
Bud Cauley (70) was seventh at 12 under.
Michael Kim’s bogey-free 62 marked the best score of the round and was just one stroke away from matching the course record. That put him at 8 under and tied for 25th place.
“In the morning we really had no wind, and then on the back nine it started to blow a little bit,” Michael Kim said.
Defending champion Justin Thomas posted 66 on Sunday for his only sub-70 round of the tournament. He ended up at 3 over and tied for 77th place.
–Field Level Media
