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Scottie Scheffler had to settle for a second-place finish for the second week in a row on Sunday.
The World No 1 narrowly missed out on victory at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, one week on from falling short of Masters glory.
Matt Fitzpatrick took down the game’s best player in a playoff on Hilton Head Island to silence the boisterous pro-American crowd.
Scheffler, trailing by three shots with four holes to play, forced a playoff with a pair of late birdies for a 4-under 67 and some help from Fitzpatrick, who hit a poor chip from right of the green and missed a 20-foot par putt for his only bogey of the day and a 70.
The large gallery that was allowed to come onto the fairway short of the 18th green in regulation filled the Calibogue Sound with endless chants of ‘U-S-A!’ They returned outside the ropes to see Fitzpatrick hit 4-iron into a stiff breeze to a pin just over the bunker.
Scheffler followed with his worst swing of the day, a 6-iron he fanned so badly that it came up 37 yards short of the hole. He hit a superb pitch to 8 feet, but never had to putt when Fitzpatrick made the winning putt.
Scottie Scheffler had to settle for a second-place finish for the second week in a row
Matt Fitzpatrick beat the World No 1 in a playoff at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town
Rory McIlroy clung on to win the Masters last week, one shot ahead of Scheffler
‘A lot of grit,’ Fitzpatrick said of holding on for the win.
His reaction was muted, lightly touching his finger to his right ear in a friendly response to the crowd. Fitzpatrick knew what he was up against, having gone through a similar atmosphere when Cameron Young beat him at The Players Championship.
The playoff was almost a repeat from when Fitzpatrick defeated another American favorite, Jordan Spieth, in a playoff at the RBC Heritage three years ago. That time, he hit 9-iron with the wind at his back that rolled out to a few inches for the winning birdie.
Fitzpatrick’s family used to take holidays to Hilton Head when he was a boy, for the golf and tennis and beaches. He came to the tournament and thought it would be cool to win it one day, and now he’s done it twice.
‘It means the world,’ he said. ‘This is a tournament I wanted to win growing up more than any of the majors before I understood more about the game. To go toe-to-toe with Scottie and get it over the line is special.’
It was the second straight runner-up finish for Scheffler, who came from 12 shots behind going into the weekend to finish one back of Rory McIlroy at the Masters.
The American launched a valiant charge at Augusta National last Sunday but ultimately fell short as the Northern Irishman clinched his second green jacket and became the first player to win back-to-back Masters since Tiger Woods in 2002.
Fitzpatrick won for the second time in the last month. After his runner-up finish at The Players, he won the Valspar Championship on the tough Innisbrook track.
