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England’s Matt Fitzpatrick beat the world No 1, Scottie Scheffler, in a playoff to win the RBC Heritage for the second time.
Fitzpatrick took a three-shot into the final round at Hilton Head and still held that advantage standing on the 15th tee. But playing partner Scheffler produced birdies at 15 and 16 and Fitzpatrick’s duffed chip on 18 cost him a bogey, sending him into a playoff that he looked second favourite to win.
Fitzpatrick, though, hit a superb four-iron approach shot to 12 feet and rolled in a tournament-winning birdie after Scheffler had missed the green with his second and chipped to eight feet with his next.
“It was a lot of grit,” Fitzpatrick, from Yorkshire, told CBS after claiming the fourth PGA Tour title of his career and second in the space of 28 days after winning at the Valspar Championship last month.
“I knew Scottie was going to make some birdies down the stretch and I kind of had to hang in there a little bit. The only chip shot I found into grain all week was in regulation there (18th).”
Fitzpatrick – who said the RBC Heritage is close to his heart as he holidayed at Hilton Head with his family when he was young – evoked memories of Rory McIlroy’s stunning victory at the Masters last week after his lead had been whittled away. McIlroy had lost a six-shot halfway advantage in Augusta before winning his second Green Jacket on a dramatic final afternoon.
After failing to win in regulation, Fitzpatrick said: “[My caddie Dan Parratt] actually said: ‘Go and get to the tee. We would have taken this at the start of the week’.
“I know Rory said that the other week so I jokingly said to Dan: ‘OK here he is, [McIlroy’s caddie] Harry Diamond’.
“We had a good laugh about that, but I felt I was in a good spot and to hit the four-iron there was out of this world. This was a tournament I wanted to win growing up before any of the majors and before I understood about the game.
“To win it twice means the world. To go toe-to-toe with Scottie and win it on the 73rd hole is special.”
