Matt Fitzpatrick came out on top in a playoff with world number one Scottie Scheffler to win his second RBC Heritage title and pick up his second win on the PGA Tour this season.
The win was remarkably similar to his first at Harbour Town three years ago, right down to Matt’s penultimate shot into the 18th hole, which he described as “out of this world.”
The 31-year-old from Sheffield quieted the hostile American crowd with a four-iron from 204 yards on the iconic 18th hole which cleared the front bunker, rolled past the pin, and settled 13ft from the hole.
The playoff was a near-repeat of the one in 2023, when Matt beat Jordan Spieth. That time, he hit nine-iron to a few inches for the winning birdie.
“It was quite funny that the playoff was just going to keep playing on 18. I was thinking it was going to be difficult to separate ourselves because it’s such a difficult hole,” said Matt, who had bogeyed the 18th, which was playing into the wind on Sunday, in regulation. “To do it how I did was special.”
Scottie, trailing by three shots with four holes to play, forced a playoff with a pair of late birdies giving him a four under-par round of 67. He also had some help from Matt, who hit a poor chip from right of the 18th green and missed a 20ft par putt for his only bogey of the day and a final round of 70.
Returning to the 18th for the sudden-death playoff, Matt hit one of the shots of the day as Scottie missed the green with a six-iron and left a 37-yard pitch for his third shot. While he pitched superbly to 8ft, it didn’t matter as Matt rolled in his birdie putt to secure the title.
Matt’s reaction was muted, lightly touching his finger to his right ear in a friendly response to the crowd.
“It didn’t get out of line, no one was shouting on backswings or anything like that, which was great,” Matt 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 a great feeling.
“However,” he said with a smile, “there’s no better feeling than coming out on top against that.”
Scottie meanwhile picked up his second runner-up finish in a row, having come from 12 shots back going into the weekend to finish one shot behind Rory McIlroy at The Masters. At Harbour Town, he was seven behind Matt through 36 holes and shot rounds of 64 and 67 over the weekend.
“In both weeks I put myself behind the eight-ball going into the weekend and had really nice Saturdays and Sundays to get myself into contention,” Scottie 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.”
Matt started the final round with a three-shot lead and birdied two of the opening three holes, never letting anyone closer than three shots until Si Woo Kim birdied the par five 15th to get within two. Scottie then got up and down from a bunker for birdie on the 15th before hitting his approach to 10ft to setup a birdie at the 16th.
That cut the lead to one shot, and both players then missed the 18th green well to the right. Scottie capped off a perfect day of scrambling – going eight for eight – with a chip that settled 1ft from the hole. Matt meanwhile came up well short, made bogey, and finished alongside Scottie on 18 under-par after 72 holes.
Matt’s win added to his victory at the Valspar Championship four weeks ago, along with his runner-up finish at The Players – giving him earnings of nearly $8.3million in his last four tournaments.
This victory, his fourth on the PGA Tour and 13th worldwide, moved him to a career-high third in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Matt’s family used to holiday at Hilton Head Island when he was a boy, and he added: “It means the world [winning here]. 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.”
