Matt Fitzpatrick (left) bested world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in a playoff at Harbour Town.
KEVIN C. COX, GETTY IMAGES
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA | It was in the early internet days when Matt Fitzpatrick’s father, Russell, went looking for a sunny place to take his English family on holiday more than 20 years ago.
Florida was too expensive but Hilton Head, particularly the Sea Pines area, looked nice, offering golf, tennis and good weather so off they went, never imagining the story being put into motion.
The family story was brought full circle – for the second time – when Matt made a 13-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole Sunday to beat world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and capture the RBC Heritage for the second time in four years.
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Fitzpatrick won it in 2023 by hitting a 9-iron to within a foot for a birdie to beat Jordan Spieth in extra holes, while it took a bullet-like 4-iron shot through the wind gusting off Calibogue Sound to deny Scheffler, who slipped into the playoff at 18-under 266 when Fitzpatrick bogeyed the 72nd hole.
“To hit the 4-iron that I hit there was out of this world,” said Fitzpatrick, whose parents and pregnant wife, Katherine, were at Harbour Town throughout the week.
It was the only time Fitzpatrick hit his 4-iron during the tournament and he admitted he pulled his approach shot slightly in the playoff.
With a chance to close out the victory on the 72nd hole, Fitzpatrick made his first bogey in 29 holes. On the cart ride back to the 18th tee where Scheffler awaited him, caddie Daniel Parratt provided a moment of humorous perspective.
Like Rory McIlroy’s caddie Harry Diamond famously told his player before the playoff in the 2025 Masters, Parratt reminded Fitzpatrick they would have taken being in a playoff when the week began.
“I jokingly said to Dan … ‘Oh OK, here he is, Harry Diamond here.’ Yeah, we had a good laugh about that,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick celebrates with caddie Daniel Parratt.
TRACY WILCOx, PGA TOUR VIA GETTY IMAGES
Like his first Heritage win, Fitzpatrick received a nautical serenade from the boats anchored off the 18th green but unlike the last time, Fitzpatrick heard his share of “USA” chants from the Lowcountry gallery as the Harbour Town fans made no secret of their allegiance and, like at the Ryder Cup last fall, Fitzpatrick left holding the trophy.
“It didn’t get out of line. No one was shouting in my backswing. I’m all for it,” Fitzpatrick said.
For all the good vibes Fitzpatrick has at Harbour Town, he was in a dark place when he played here last year. He had fallen to 79th in the world, didn’t have a top-20 finish in the season and was chasing his lost form.
It was here that Fitzpatrick first worked with swing coach Mark Blackburn, who immediately changed his arm position, almost instantly improving his approach play.
“It was an unbelievable change,” said Fitzpatrick, who rose to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking with the victory, his second of the season after last month’s Valspar Championship. Fitzpatrick also finished second to Cameron Young at the Players Championship the week before Valspar.
For Scheffler, it was his second consecutive runner-up finish coming off his near-miss at the Masters, where he finished one stroke behind McIlroy.
Seven strokes behind Fitzpatrick after 36 holes, Scheffler shot 64-67 on the weekend but missed the green in the playoff and couldn’t match Fitzpatrick’s birdie.
“I think in both weeks I put myself behind the eight ball going into the weekend and had really nice Saturdays and Sundays in order to get myself into contention,” Scheffler 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.”
The victory made Fitzpatrick the 11th player to win the tournament’s tartan jacket more than once, joining a list that includes Davis Love III, Hale Irwin, Johnny Miller, Jim Furyk, Tom Watson and, among others, Boo Weekley.
That adds another thread to Fitzpatrick’s Harbour Town story. At one of Weekley’s victories here – Fitzpatrick doesn’t remember if it was 2007 or 2008 – he was a teenage spectator hanging around the practice putting green and Weekley gave him a golf ball.
When he won in 2023, Fitzpatrick said he could retire happily because winning at Harbour Town had always been at the top of his personal list. Now, he’s done it twice.
“It’s incredible,” Fitzpatrick said of his Harbour Town story. “Words don’t really do it justice.”
Ron Green Jr.
