Matt Fitzpatrick defeated World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in a play-off to collect the RBC Heritage title and earn his fourth career PGA TOUR victory.
The 31-year-old Englishman headed into the final round at Harbour Town Golf Links with a three-shot advantage at the top of the leaderboard and he extended that lead during the early stages as he birdied two of his first three holes. He looked comfortable throughout the front nine and the majority of the back nine, making 14 successive pars.
However, Scheffler produced a late charge sinking consecutive birdies to put the pressure on Fitzpatrick, cutting his lead down to one heading to the 18th. This is where Fitzpatrick suffered his first dropped shot of the day as he slipped down to 18 under carding a 1-under 70 after Scheffler closed with a par to end on the same score thanks to a three-under 67, forcing a play-off.
The duo returned to the 18th where Fitzpatrick was able to keep his cool firing a superb approach shot and rolling in a sublime 13-foot birdie to seal his second victory of the season, following up from his triumph at the Valspar Championship in March.
“I got off to a great start and I would have taken (a playoff) before we teed off,” Fitzpatrick said. “I knew Scottie was going to make a lot of birdies down the stretch and I would have to hang in there a bit.
“I felt like I was in a good spot and, to hit a 4-iron I did, was out of this world. This win means so much and this is a tournament I wanted to win growing up.
“To win it twice means the world and to go toe-to-toe with Scottie, and get it done on the 73rd, is special.”
Victory means Fitzpatrick joins an exclusive list of the English players to have won multiple events in the same PGA TOUR season alongside Sir Nick Faldo, Justin Rose (twice), and Luke Donald. He also climbs up to No. 3 on the Official World Golf Rankings, his highest position to date.
For Scheffler, it is his second runner-up finish in a row after seeing McIlroy claim another Green Jacket at The Masters last week.
“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.”
South Korea’s Is Woo Kim finished in third on 16 under while there was a three-way tie for fourth between American pair Collin Morikawa and Harris English, and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg.
What is the next event?
The next event on the PGA TOUR is the Zurich Classic of New Orleans taking place between 23-26 April at TPC Louisiana in Louisiana.