Matt Fitzpatrick wasn’t going to let the lead slip away this time.
Fitzpatrick maintained his lead over the field and fended off top-ranked Scottie Scheffler in a playoff to pick up the win at the RBC Heritage on Sunday afternoon in South Carolina. Fitzpatrick posted a simple 1-under 70 in his final round, and went on a run where he made more than a dozen pars in a row.
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Though he bogeyed the 18th in regulation, Fitzpatrick landed his approach just past the pin in the playoff to set up a 13-foot birdie putt to secure his win on the 73rd hole of the tournament.
Fitzpatrick has now won twice in his last three PGA Tour starts, doubling up his career wins total. The win on Sunday also earned him a $3.6 million check, part of a $20 million purse at the signature event.
Fitzpatrick carried a three-shot lead into the final round, thanks to a 3-under 68 on Saturday that was only possible after he sank a birdie putt from off the green and then chipped-in for eagle on the following hole. Scheffler, however, was close behind after he once again jumped into contention on Moving Day. Scheffler went 7-under on Saturday, after he started the day with five birdies in his first six holes.
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While Scheffler didn’t fade away completely, Fitzpatrick jumped out to a great start on Sunday and never looked back. Fitzpatrick birdied two of his first three holes, which pushed his lead to four briefly, before rattling off 14 consecutive pars. He kept that streak alive at the 11th, too, with what was perhaps his best putt of the day from more than 16 feet away.
Eventually, Scheffler cut the lead back to a single stroke after he drilled in a birdie putt, his second straight, at the 16th. Scheffler went to the final tee box trailing by just one shot, and Fitzpatrick missed the green in regulation after his drive landed in the sand off to the right of the fairway.
Scheffler, despite landing in the center of the fairway, also missed the green with his approach. But he went up-and-down with a tap-in par. While that made things very clear for Fitzpatrick, he seemed to rush his chip and left himself more than 20 feet from the cup. He bogeyed instead, ending his par streak and setting up the playoff.
Scheffler finished with a bogey-free 67. He only had three bogeys on the week, too, two of which came in the opening round. Scheffler has now finished second in back-to-back weeks on Tour. He climbed back into contention at the Masters last week, but ended up finishing alone in second behind Rory McIlroy at Augusta National.
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The win is the fourth of Fitzpatrick’s PGA Tour career, and his second of the season. He won the Valspar Championship last month, thanks to a huge birdie putt at the final hole, to give him a one-shot victory at the Copperhead Course. Fitzpatrick, who entered this week at No. 7 in the Official World Golf Rankings, nearly won The Players Championship this season, too, but he fell apart on the final hole and opened the door for Cameron Young to steal the tournament instead.
Clearly, with a win over Scheffler now in the books, Fitzpatrick has more than put that slip at TPC Sawgrass behind him.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.
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