Fitzpatrick Maintains Lead Over Charging Scheffler at RBC Heritage
Matt Fitzpatrick holds a three-shot lead heading into Sunday’s final round of the RBC Heritage, despite world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler’s impressive charge up the leaderboard at Harbour Town.
Fitzpatrick posted a 3-under 68 on Saturday to reach 17-under 196, maintaining his advantage through some mid-round turbulence. The Englishman, who won this event in 2023, showed remarkable resilience after making three bogeys in a seven-hole stretch that allowed several players to close the gap.
“The bogeys that I made today, I didn’t feel like I kind of hit it off the planet and I was scrambling,” Fitzpatrick said. “I just felt that they were holes that I didn’t really make my par on, and I felt like I was making good enough swings to make a turnaround on the back nine.”
That turnaround came in spectacular fashion. Fitzpatrick reignited his round with a booming drive on the 315-yard ninth hole that reached the green, setting up a two-putt birdie. But his most electric moments came when he holed out twice from off the green – a 25-foot birdie putt from the fringe at the par-3 14th and a chip-in eagle at the par-5 15th that pushed his lead back to three shots.
“Obviously, some nice momentum with the hole-outs,” Fitzpatrick said with characteristic understatement.
Scheffler, fresh off his runner-up finish at the Masters, made an early statement with five birdies in his first six holes. He bookended his round with birdies on the final two holes, including a spectacular 9-iron from 196 yards to 10 feet on 18, to post a 7-under 64.
“Good to be back in the tournament,” Scheffler said. “I was a little bit behind the 8-ball going into today, but had a nice round to put myself back in position.”
The world’s top-ranked player started the day well behind the leaders but knew exactly what he needed to do.
“It felt like I had already gotten myself into contention there,” Scheffler said, noting his fast start came before the final groups had even teed off.
Scheffler wasn’t the only player making a move. Brian Harman fired a career-best 63 at Harbour Town, highlighted by a hole-out from the bunker on the par-3 17th. The former Open champion sits four shots back at 13-under, tied with Si Woo Kim (66) and Sepp Straka (67).
“Just tried to keep the pedal down. It’s going to take a low number to win,” Harman said.
Viktor Hovland, who started the day one shot behind Fitzpatrick, struggled to a 73 and fell off the pace.
The stage is now set for a compelling Sunday showdown between Fitzpatrick and Scheffler, who played together during the first two rounds. In those earlier matchups, Fitzpatrick built a seven-shot advantage over Scheffler through 36 holes.
Scheffler knows he’ll need another special round – and perhaps a little help – to overtake Fitzpatrick.
“Fitzpatrick goes out today and shoots 64, that’s going to make things really hard for me,” Scheffler said. “You need a tiny bit of help, but I can’t control what those guys are going to do. If somebody shows up and shoots 28 under on this golf course, sometimes you just get beat.”
He added: “Going into today I was just going to do my best and see where that left me.”
With four players within four shots of the lead and the world’s best player in the final pairing, Sunday at Hilton Head promises to deliver plenty of drama on Pete Dye’s iconic layout.
