Fitzpatrick fends off Scheffler in playoff to win 2026 RBC Heritage in Hilton Head
Playing with Scottie Scheffler on a Sunday must be like trying to get through a round with a lion lurking behind you.
Merely the presence of the No. 1 golfer in the world is intimidating enough to put veteran players into a blender trying to out-duel the most steady golfer on Earth.
Which makes it that much more remarkable that Matt Fitzpatrick won the RBC Heritage for the second time in four years (2023, 2026) on Sunday, beating Scheffler in the first hole of a playoff.
Scheffler, who finished the tournament at 18-under, shot a 4-under 67 in regulation Sunday, a gritty round that included 14 pars, four birdies and a perfect scrambling round (8-8).
But for 17 holes on Sunday, Fitzpatrick — who entered the final round with a three-shot lead over Scheffler — had kept the lion at ease. He wasn’t playing well (15 pars with just two birdies) but there was no blow-up. No water ball. No mistake to let Scheffler take control.
Finally, on the iconic 18th hole of Harbor Town, the lion made his move. Both Scheffler’s and Fitzpatrick’s approach shot went right of the green. Scheffler played first, hitting a beautiful chip that he just putted out for par.
Rather than taking a beat, Fitzpatrick hurried to his ball. What transpired was a rushed chip that checked before the slope and settled 22 feet short of the hole. He missed the putt for his first bogey in 29 holes.
Nine times out of 10, that’s enough of an opening for Scheffler to come busting through the door and en route to another victory. But credit to Fitzpatrick, who saved his best shot of the day for the playoff.
From the fairway, Fitzpatrick whacked a 4-iron through the wind, only for his ball to settle 13 feet from the pin. He nailed the birdie putt for his second plaid jacket.
“I felt like I was in a good spot,” Fitzpatrick told CBS after the finish, “and to hit the 4-iron that I hit there was out of this world.”
Scheffler didn’t put pressure on Fitzpatrick until the very end Sunday. For much of the afternoon, Scheffler rarely gave himself a birdie look inside 15 feet — a sharp downturn in approach play from arguably the game’s best ball-striker. Through 14 holes, he had two birdies to go with a dozen pars — which was enough to keep himself within striking distance of the lead.
“Would have liked to have seen a few more putts go in, but overall I executed the way I wanted to,” Scheffler said. “It was just challenging out there. The wind is swirling all around, and it was hard to make birdies late in the day.”
For how well the Englishman played with the lead on Saturday, shooting 4-under on the back-nine, Fitzpatrick didn’t do much of anything Sunday — which isn’t always a bad thing. Many players, trying to hold the lead with Scheffler breathing down their neck, get caught pressing and combust.
Fitzpatrick held firm. He was 6 for 6 in scrambling opportunities and kept finding ways to make pars. For most of the day, it was enough to keep a healthy cushion between him and Scheffler. Then the best player in the world put his foot on the gas and carded birdies on the 15th and 16th holes to pull within one.
“I knew Scottie was going to make some birdies down the stretch,” Fitzpatrick said, “and I kind of had to hang in there a little bit.”
In the analytical world of golf, there is a new-age metric often cited in predictions before tournaments. It’s called “course fit,” and it’s exactly what it sounds like: A tool that tries to determine how well the strengths of a certain golfer marry up to demands of the golf course they’re about to play.
To judge Matt Fitzpatrick on this would be silly. No, more predictive of Fitzpatrick’s success at a course would be comfort — if only there was enough data in the world to formulate a stat around that.
But Fitzpatrick has proven over and over again that his best golf often comes at the places he knows best. He won the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Boston, the same course where he claimed the U.S. Amateur nine years earlier.
On paper, Fitzpatrick’s success at this tournament is a bit of a conundrum. Per Datagolf’s “course fit” stat, Fitzpatrick’s game doesn’t give him an advantage at Harbor Town.
But his success in South Carolina makes more sense once you learn about his affinity for Harbour Town. Beginning in 2000, his family made “countless” trips from England to Hilton Head, playing golf all over the island and, outside of Augusta National, Fitzpatrick has said, Harbour Town is his favorite golf course.
It was the site of his second PGA Tour win in 2023, when he out-dueled Jordan Spieth in a playoff. And on Sunday, it became the site of his second victory of 2026, coming less than a month after he claimed the Valspar Championship in Florida.
“This is a tournament I wanted to win growing up, arguably more than any of the majors before I understood about the game,” Fitzpatrick said. “To win it twice means the world. To go out today and go toe-to-toe with Scottie and get over the line there on the 73rd is special.”
As for the family vacations in Hilton Head continuing in the future?
“Definitely,” he said. “We don’t have a choice now.”
This story was originally published April 19, 2026 at 6:24 PM.
