Fitzpatrick had the tournament to win heading to the 18th hole, but was forced to finish things off in a playoff
By Patrick McDonald of cbssports.com contributing
A second win and a second tartan jacket now belong to one Matt Fitzpatrick. Defeating Scottie Scheffler with a birdie on the first playoff hole at Harbour Town Golf Links, Fitzpatrick found the winner’s circle at the RBC Heritage for the second time in the last four years to become the tournament’s 11th multiple-time winner.
Fitzpatrick commanded a three-stroke lead over Scheffler heading into the final round and was able to maintain his distance over the world No. 1 for much of the day until things tightened late. Scheffler made up three strokes over the final four holes, playing the stretch in 2 under, while Fitzpatrick made bogey on the 72nd hole to set a date for extra holes at 18 under.
The Englishman’s record as a 54-hole leader improves to 3-for-5 with his latest conversion marking his fourth career victory on the PGA Tour. That win total was half of that at the onset of the year.
Fitzpatrick’s win marks his second in his last three tournaments, pulling him alongside Chris Gotterup as the only multiple-time winners on the PGA Tour this season. He jumps to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings behind only Scheffler and Rory McIlroy and up to No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings behind only Scheffler.
Unlike Saturday when he stumbled out of the gates, Fitzpatrick found his footing immediately on Sunday. Two birdies across his first three holes pushed his advantage over his playing partner to four strokes where it stood for the early portion of their rounds. Fitzpatrick and Scheffler found themselves in neutral for the rest of their front nines allowing Si Woo Kim to enter the conversation.
Scheffler took advantage of the short par-4 9th to trim the edge to where it began the day heading into the back nine, but the pars persisted. The two made pars on Nos. 10-14, while Kim put a circle on his scorecard on No. 11 to pull alongside Scheffler in Fitzpatrick’s rearview mirror.
Kim was the first to cut the deficit to two strokes thanks to a birdie on the par-5 15th, but Scheffler joined him shortly after. Kim ultimately ran out of steam (and holes), but the Scheffler train kept on rolling and pulled within one when another birdie came flying onto his scorecard from just inside 10 feet on the par-4 16th.
The pair exchanged pars on the par-3 17th and were pitted against one another in a pseudo chip-off just off the putting surface on the 72nd hole. Scheffler knocked his stiff, while Fitzpatrick left his woefully short and missed his 22-foot par effort to win the tournament in regulation.
Fitzpatrick made amends on the first playoff hole. From the fairway and with a 4 iron in hand, Fitzpatrick flighted his second beautifully against the left-to-right crosswind and saw his ball settle just 12 feet away from the pin. While Scheffler had an opportunity to save par from closer, Fitzpatrick never gave him a chance and slammed the door shut with a clinching birdie bid. Grade: A+
Here are the rest of the notables on the leaderboard at the 2026 RBC Heritage.
P2. Scottie Scheffler (-18): This week in Hilton Head Island felt a lot like his week in Augusta, Georgia. The world No. 1 played some really solid golf, but the combination of a large deficit at the halfway point and Scheffler’s inability to squeeze more out of his rounds when he was running out of leash were too much to overcome. There were moments to pounce in the final round, but instead he now has two straight runner-up results to show for his play. Scheffler being Scheffler, of course, would like more. The game is getting sharper by the week and the wins will start piling up once he takes care of some of the easier aspects. Grade: A
T4. Collin Morikawa: (-13): Even without a clean bill of health, Morikawa managed his way around Harbour Town like a champ. Off a surprising top-10 finish at the Masters, the two-time major champion climbed his way inside the same mark by week’s end. Morikawa ranked No. 1 in the field in strokes gained approach and could have finished even higher had the putter been slightly more cooperative. Dinking, dunking and playing some form of small ball, Morikawa showed a level of toughness those on the outside may have previously questioned. Now, the focus will be to get healthy, and fast, as a big stretch of golf (two signature events and the PGA Championship) will be here in no time.
“I’m happy these last two weeks are done. It’s been a grind,” Morikawa said. “The two weeks of golf have felt like a full year of golf, just grinding through it, playing. But it was nice; I think I learned a lot about myself. Mentally I was pretty strong throughout the last two weeks. There’s something to take from not having the full health of being able to swing a club but kind of working with what you have. I think I did a pretty good job so far. I wish I had the last one back, but overall, hopefully a couple top 10s to finish the week.” Grade: A-
T33. Jordan Spieth (-7): Spieth is quickly turning into that duck-rabbit illusion. If you squint your eyes and focus your brain enough, you can see either animal. Spieth was among the leaders in the following categories this week: birdies, strokes gained putting, double bogeys and fairways missed. One week after he said he has never hit the ball so well, Spieth was nearly dead last in strokes gained tee to green no thanks to an average of one lost ball per round. The only constant at this point is that there are none. Grade: C
T43. Viktor Hovland (-6): It was going so well until it wasn’t. Hovland was in the final pairing on Saturday and found himself outside the top 40 by the end of Sunday. Two water balls in his final round did him no favors during a tournament where his short game more than held its own. His game will start to open up with more consistency once he figures out the riddle off the tee. Big misses, lack of confidence and an inability to find a regular feel have planted roots in Hovland’s driver causing the one-time strength to become a growing weakness. Grade: C-
T74. Jake Knapp (+2): Just an odd week from the PGA Tour’s leader in scoring average. Knapp arrived off a strong showing at the Masters and was upended by his play on the greens. Amid a season where he ranks second only to Jacob Bridgeman in strokes gained putting, Knapp was dead last in the category losing more than 10 strokes to the field with the putter in hand. The result was enough to push Knapp outside the top 70 in the 82-man field even with a strong showing with his irons. Grade: D
Updates
(60)
13 hrs ago
“How do you like me now?!” 😏 pic.twitter.com/Bz6KjfLeoT
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) April 19, 2026
@GOLFonCBS via Twitter
Apr. 19, 2026, 6:27 pm EDT
13 hrs ago
CLUTCH 🏆
Matt Fitzpatrick takes home his second win in three starts @RBC_Heritage. pic.twitter.com/I7tM9uRJnh
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 19, 2026
@PGATOUR via Twitter
Apr. 19, 2026, 6:24 pm EDT
13 hrs ago
Make room in the closet for another tartan jacket!
Matt Fitzpatrick does it again to become a two-time champion @RBC_Heritage 🏆 pic.twitter.com/OFNuDObZNe
— Golfbet (@Golfbet) April 19, 2026
@PGATOUR via Twitter
Apr. 19, 2026, 6:24 pm EDT
13 hrs ago
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.