HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Matt Fitzpatrick was in a playoff at Harbour Town against an American favorite Sunday, facing a large and noisy gallery cheering and chanting for his opponent — Scottie Scheffler this time, the No. 1 player in the world.
It was practically a repeat from three years ago, right down to the shot into the 18th hole that Fitzpatrick said was “out of this world.”
The 31-year-old from England quieted the crowd with a 4-iron from 204 yards, a little more left than he intended but no less magnificent. It covered the bunker, rolled past the pin and settled 13 feet away for a birdie to beat Scheffler and win the RBC Heritage for the second time.
The playoff was almost a repeat from when Fitzpatrick defeated another American favorite, Jordan Spieth, in a playoff at the RBC Heritage three years ago. That time, he hit 9-iron with the wind at his back that rolled out to a few inches for the winning birdie.
This time the closing hole was a brute, the toughest at Harbour Town on Sunday.
“It was quite funny that the playoff was just going to keep playing on 18. I was thinking it was going difficult in a way to separate ourselves because it’s such a difficult hole,” Fitzpatrick said. “To do it how I did was special.”
Scheffler, trailing by three shots with four holes to play, forced a playoff with a pair of late birdies for a 4-under 67 and some help from Fitzpatrick, who hit a poor chip from right of the green and missed a 20-foot par putt for his only bogey of the day and a 70.
The gallery that was allowed to come onto the fairway short of the 18th green in regulation filled the Calibogue Sound with endless chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” They returned outside the ropes to see Fitzpatrick hit 4-iron into a stiff breeze to a pin just over the bunker.
Scheffler followed with his worst swing of the day, a 6-iron he fanned so badly that it came up 37 yards short of the hole. He hit a superb pitch to 8 feet, but never had to putt when Fitzpatrick made the winning putt.
“A lot of grit,” Fitzpatrick said of holding on for the win.
His reaction was muted, lightly touching his finger to his right ear in a friendly response to the crowd. Fitzpatrick knew what he was up against, having gone through a similar atmosphere when Cameron Young beat him at The Players Championship.
“I didn't get out of line in terms of no one was shouting on backswings or anything like that, which was great," Fitzpatrick said. "I'm all for it. I love the people ... they're supporting Scottie. You want golf to have an atmosphere. I'm paid so much money to be out there in front of those crowds. Having them chanting at you every week, it’s great feeling.
“However,” he said with a smile, “there's no better feeling than coming out on top against that.”
It was the second straight runner-up finish for Scheffler, who came from 12 shots behind going into the weekend to finish one back of Rory McIlroy at the Masters. This time, he was seven behind Fitzpatrick through 36 holes and finished 64-67.
“In both weeks I put myself behind the 8-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.”
It was great theater, but only at the end.
Fitzpatrick started with a three-shot lead and birdied two of the opening three holes, never letting anyone closer than three shots all round until Si Woo Kim birdied the par-5 15th to get within two shots, and then Scheffler came on late with an up-and-down from a bunker for birdie on the 15th, and a bold drive and approach to 10 feet for birdie at the 16th.
That cut the lead to one shot, and both players missed the 18th green well to the right. Scheffler capped off a perfect day of scrambling — 8 for 8 — with a chip that settled a foot from the hole. Fitzpatrick faced his first chip into the grain and came up well short.
They finished at 18-under 268. Kim closed with a 68 to finish alone in third, his fourth top 10 of the year.
Fitzpatrick won for the second time in the last month. After his runner-up finish at The Players, he won the Valspar Championship on the tough Innisbrook track. He has won nearly $8.3 million in his last four tournaments.
The victory, his fourth on the PGA Tour and 13th worldwide, moves him to a career-high No. 3 in the world ranking.
Fitzpatrick’s family used to take holidays to Hilton Head Head when he was a boy, for the golf and tennis and beaches. He came to the tournament and thought it would be cool to win it one day, and now he has done it twice.
“It means the world,” he said. “This is a tournament I wanted to win growing up more than any of the majors before I understood more about the game. To go toe-to-toe with Scottie and get it over the line is special.”
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