A perfect nine iron shot to 6 inches from the hole sealed the victory for Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage Sunday. The win was settled on the third playoff hole after defending champion Jordan Spieth failed to make two winning putts on the previous holes.
On Sunday the final group was Spieth, Fitzpatrick and Patrick Cantlay. Last year Spieth won in a playoff over Cantlay, so the stage was set with two of the best players in the world who thrive at Hilton Head. And the grouping did not disappoint anyone. All three players were in contention until Cantlay made back-to-back bogies on 13 and 14.
Fitzpatrick was methodical in his approach and stuck with the game plan until the 15th hole. Trailing Spieth by 2 strokes he made birdies on the 15th and 16th holes to tie for the lead at 17 under.
“I didn’t do any attacking, I just stuck to my game plan all along. I didn’t change. We were hitting the same targets, same shots as we did all week.”
Matt Fitzpatrick
The patient approach paid off and setup a playoff with Spieth. On the first playoff hole Spieth had a 12-foot putt to win the tournament. But the ball rolled over the lip of the hole on its final rotation and missed. On the second hole both players had less than 15 feet for birdie but neither could drop the putt.
There was no doubt about the final hole as Fitzpatrick, from 187 yards out, hit the front of the green and watched his ball settle next to the hole.
“This one is the one that I’ve always wanted to win. Any golf tournament, you know, other than the majors, of course, there isn’t a higher one on my list than to win this one, and that’s the truth.”
Matt Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick won $3.6 million from the elevated purse of $20 million in the sixth designated event of the year on the PGA Tour, topping a field that included seven of the world’s top 10 players.