Robert TheodorsonThe two-man race for the 2026 RBC Heritage came down to the final hole, the Par 4 18th off The Calibogue Sound with the famous Hilton Head lighthouse prominently featured in the background.
For the entirety of Championship Sunday, the run down the stretch proved to be lackluster for the leaders until the would-be grand finale on the 18th hole.
Both Scheffler and Fitzpatrick, the 2024 and 2023 RBC Heritage champions, respectively, sent errant tee shots to the right pathway with Fitzpatrick’s landing in the sand, though finishing with a decent lie. Both men followed up with sub-par approach shots, neither of which stuck the green.
Scheffler proceeded with an accurate chip shot that came mere inches away from giving him a share of the lead.
Fitzpatrick fared far worse.
Fitz’s chip shot came up far short of the pin, and was followed by an ugly putt that left decent amount of length between the ball and hole. Fitzpatrick’s putt missed, and in doing so took away the lead that he had held so long through so many days, and thus two men found themselves in a playoff.
On the first lone hole, the advantage immediately went to Fitzpatrick as Scheffler made an uncharacteristically bad mistake, chunking his approach shot and landing well short of the green.
Fitzpatrick’s approach shot, which landed the green resulted in a putt that was by no means a gimme, but at the same time the fans in the raucous crowd felt that this was the time something had to give.
Fitzpatrick’s putt from just under ten feet was good for the win, giving the Englishman his second RBC Heritage victory of his career and another win on the season to make it two.
The win was worth $3.6M and the points earned will surely keep Fitzpatrick in the Top 10 of the OWGR for some time.
Si Woo Kim Enters the Conversation, Harman’s Efforts Come Up Short
Si Woo Kim did his best to insert himself into the two-horse race that was Scottie Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick.
The 2017 Players champ made things interesting by leapfrogging Scheffler for a minute, but ultimately settling for 3rd place with a final score of 16-under par. It was Si Woo’s best finish since the WM Phoenix Open and his third 3rd place or better finish of the season.
Harman, the 2023 Open Champion, started the round at 13-under par, but a number of costly errors around the turn ultimately sank any hopes he had of pulling off an improbable win. Sunday cost Harman a total of 4 strokes and cost him the tournament that he came close to winning (T3) in 2025.
Missed Opportunities From Big Stars
On the periphery, golfers who had a real chance to shoot up the leaderboard and pull off an improbable win like Ludvig Aberg (T4; 13-under par), Harris English (T4; 13-under par), Patrick Cantlay (T8; 11-under par), and Gary Woodland (T8; 11-under par) failed to make a meaningful impact despite several opportunities. Despite not coming away with the outright win, the rest of the best brought in a big pay day by virtue of the Heritage being the Tour’s first Signature Event.
Woodland however did end his day on a good note, holing out the Par 4 18th with a nearly impossible eagle to finish his weekend.
Ultimately, it was another big let down for Aberg who had a legitimate chance at winning his first tournament of the season, but has been plagued by consistency issues down the stretch, most noticeably at The Players, The Masters, and most recently the RBC Heritage.
Onward to The PGA Championship
Though it’s approximately a month away, both Fitzpatrick and Scheffler figure to be at the very least, Top 5 favorites going into the second major championship of the year.
The two men will need to best Rory McIlroy and a field of opponents that used the Heritage to show that in the event of a score-fest, the field can keep up with the very best in the world and it may truly be anyone’s game.
As a result of this Heritage, Fitzpatrick has put even more attention on himself after an already superbly successful season. Do not be the least bit surprised if this Renaissance man comes home with his second career major championship this season.
It seems fortune and momentum are on his side.
