Matt Fitzpatrick defeated Scottie Scheffler on the first playoff hole with a birdie to win the 2026 RBC Heritage. This is his second win in his last four starts, as Fitzpatrick also won the 2026 Valspar Championship last month.
By the third round, it looked like Fitzpatrick would run away with the tournament. He was standing on the 15th tee box with a three-stroke lead. But Scheffler made back-to-back birdies starting on hole 15 to get within one stroke with two holes to play. Fitzpatrick bogeyed the 18th hole—his first in 29 holes—to finish at 18-under with Scheffler and headed to a playoff.
This isn’t the first time Fitzpatrick has been in a playoff during this event—he defeated Jordan Spieth in a three-hole battle during the 2023 RBC Heritage. That year, his approach shot on the third playoff hole rolled to three inches from the hole, setting him up to defeat Spieth. This year, his 4-iron from 204 yards away got him 13 feet away from the hole. His putt slid left to right into the back of the hole for his fourth career PGA Tour win.
Last year after his T38 finish at this event, Fitzpatrick was ranked 79th in the Official World Golf Rankings. Thanks to this win, he is now projected to move to third in the Official World Golf Rankings, the highest position of his career. The major improvement in his game this year is his iron play. A year ago, he ranked 76th in strokes gained approach shots, but coming into this week he ranked 7th. He also ranked 103rd in greens in regulation last year and this year he ranks second, showing marked improvement.
Fitzpatrick is the first person from outside the United States to win the RBC Heritage multiple times. He’s also only the fourth Englishman to have a multi-win season on the PGA Tour, joining Sir Nick Faldo, Luke Donald and Justin Rose.
It’s extra meaningful that Fitzpatrick has won here twice, as he has a long-term special connection to Hilton Head. The Fitzpatrick family came to Hilton Head for their spring break vacation from England every year when he was growing up.
When asked during his post-round interview about how special it is to win here again, Fitzpatrick responded, “This is a tournament I wanted to win growing up—arguably more than any of the majors—before I understood about the game. To win it twice means the world.”
Next week the PGA Tour is off to New Orleans for the Zurich Classic. This tournament has been played in two-man teams since 2017 and is the only official FedExCup event on the PGA tour to use this format. Last year’s winning team, Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak, will look to defend their title.
