HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC — Matt Fitzpatrick had a great break and excellent golf at 8-under 63 to take a one-shot lead Friday over Viktor Hovland on a hot day with big numbers at the RBC Heritage.
Fitzpatrick was cruising when his tee shot at the par-3 14th veered hard left, into the sand and trees when he caught what appeared to be the edge of the fairway and sent the ball back down the green slope and into the water.
It was lightly sprayed to keep it dry, and it covered a 30-foot bird that was very unlikely. Fitzpatrick birdied two of the next three and finished the round bogey-free.
“Yeah, it was luck, there’s no two ways about it,” Fitzpatrick said. “Sometimes you need that in a week, so it’s good to get it, and then it’s even better to take advantage of it.”
Hovland was at its best in the afternoon when the wind picked up, and it didn’t take long around the tree-filled Harbor Town for players to make bad decisions or catch the wrong wind.
Hovland found the right club on the exposed par-3 17th to 12 feet for his eighth birdie of the day and a hard-earned 65. That included a birdie on the par-5 fifth when he was 205 yards off his third shot and wound up a 30-footer.
“I wouldn’t say I nailed it today, but at least I kept the ball in front of me, and that’s what you try to do on the golf course,” Hovland said.
Fitzpatrick, who won the RBC Heritage Championship against Jordan Spieth in 2023, was 14-under 128.
Harris English found a foul on the 11th hole and went from bogey for par to escape with a double bogey on a hole in the sand. He overcame that, had a 68 and was three shots behind.
Scottie Scheffler, who played with Fitzpatrick, hit all 14 fairways for just the fourth time in his career — two of which were on the wide fairway of the Kapalua runway — and had a steady diet of birdie opportunities within 18 feet. He carded a bogey-free 67 and was seven back.
Fitzpatrick and Scheffler both hit the ball so well it looked like they were playing Tuesday’s money game, with birdie opportunities on every hole and exchanging birdies early before the wind picked up.
On the par-4 eighth, Scheffler hit just enough to the left corner of the green that it bounced right to 7 feet. Fitzpatrick followed in the same line and was 6 inches closer, and Scheffler looked back at England and smiled.
But it was Fitzpatrick who went ahead with a flurry of three straight birdies on the front and three straight birdies on the back. The longest par putt he had was 4 feet on the last hole.
He called it a continuation of a good iron run that began when he finished one shot behind Cameron Young at The Players Championship, then won the following week at Innisbrook at the Valspar Championship.
Patrick Cantlay, who took a big step last week with consecutive bogey-free rounds at the Masters after opening with a 77, shot 64 and was four shots behind Sepp Straka (67) and Ludvig Åberg, who was closing in on Fitzpatrick until three bogeys on the back nine led to a 71.
Robert MacIntyre was also in the mix, three shots behind, until the wind died down enough to prevent his ball from finding the 17th green, then he took two to get out of the bunker for a double bogey. That took away a lot of good work, and a bogey on the 18th dropped him to a 68, six behind.
There were 20 double bogeys on the day from a field of 82 over 11 holes at Harbor Town. Spieth made three and shot a 73.
Akshay Bhatia had 11 birdies to clear his double bogey in a round of 63.
“Man, it was tricky out there on the back nine, just like it is here at Hilton Head,” English said. “Strong winds. You don’t really know where they’re coming from.”
Fitzpatrick has a history on Hilton Head Island in addition to winning the last three years. His family used to come on vacation. He suspects that his father wrote the words “tennis” and “golf” and “good weather” and they left. He remembers going to the tournament, even getting a golf ball signed by Boo Weekley. And now here it is, the grand champion looking for another winner of the jacket with the plaque.
