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§ THE BOARD · RBC HERITAGE RECAP
Fitzpatrick’s Playoff. Scheffler’s Season.
The RBC Heritage ended the way it should have ended — in a playoff on one of the most dramatic finishing holes in golf, at Harbour Town’s lighthouse par-4, with the world’s best player on one side and a Sheffield precision engineer on the other.
Scheffler lost. For the second time in a month, the world No. 1 produced weekend golf that should have won him a tournament and ended up one shot short. At Augusta, he went 64-67 and finished one behind McIlroy. At Harbour Town, he went 64-67, forced a playoff — and then watched Matt Fitzpatrick hit a 4-iron from 204 yards to 13 feet and make the putt.
A pattern is forming.
Three to watch going forward.
Scottie Scheffler — second, again
He leads the tour in strokes-gained total through the post-Masters stretch. He has back-to-back runner-up finishes in two of the year’s most important events. He is ranked No. 1 by a margin the models describe as the widest in a decade. He does not need our concern. But a third second-place finish in Miami this week — with nobody watching very carefully — might quietly be the story of the season’s first half.
Matt Fitzpatrick — No. 3 in the world
The Harbour Town victory moves him to a career-high ranking and his fourth PGA Tour title. He’s now won the RBC Heritage twice, both times in a playoff, both times on the 18th hole, both times with an iron from outside 200 yards. At some point that stops being coincidence and starts being a skill set. He won’t play in Miami this week — he’s skipping the Cadillac Championship — which means the narrative moves on, but the result stays on the board.
Justin Rose — quietly in the conversation
Rose finished tied for third at Augusta at 10-under. He is 45 years old. He is still producing major championship contention finishes, which at 45 is not something the record books expect of you. The quiet subplot of this season is whether he can win one more Signature Event before the summer ends. The short-to-mid iron game that has always defined him is still there. Quail Hollow in two weeks is worth watching if his name appears on the leaderboard Saturday afternoon.
The Sunday read.
The RBC Heritage result tells you something important about the 2026 season: this is not a one-man show. McIlroy won the Masters. Fitzpatrick won Hilton Head. Scheffler — the undisputed world No. 1 — lost both in the final stretch. The season is alive in a way that the world ranking doesn’t suggest. The Cadillac Championship this week, lacking several of its best players, may feel like a holding pattern. What comes after — Quail Hollow, then the PGA Championship in Philadelphia — will not.
Harbour Town rewards control over power, precision over length, and patience over aggression. This week, it rewarded exactly the right man. Fitzpatrick hit his 4-iron and made his putt and collected his $3.6 million, and the world kept turning. See you at Doral. — The Clubhouse
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