HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Matt Fitzpatrick was no longer alone in the lead and not really sure how it happened. He made three bogeys in seven holes, none from terrible spots, and that was enough for Scottie Scheffler to close the gap quickly Saturday in the RBC Heritage.
Fitzpatrick felt he was playing well enough there was no need to panic.
One big swing with the driver, two shots holed from off the green — for birdie and eagle — and Fitzpatrick steadied himself for a 3-under 68 to lead Scheffler by three shots going into Sunday.
Scheffler opened with five birdies in six holes to get back in the tournament, and he closed with two birdies on the last two holes for a 64 that put him in the final group Sunday.
“The bogeys that I made today, I didn’t feel like I kind of hit it off the planet and I was scrambling and stuff,” Fitzpatrick said. “I just felt that they were holes that I didn’t really make my par on, and I felt like I was making good enough swings to make a turnaround on the back nine. Obviously, some nice momentum with the hole-outs.”
Scheffler finished by smashing a 9-iron from 196 with the wind at his back to 10 feet that briefly tied Fitzpatrick for the lead, just not for long.
Fitzpatrick rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt from off the green at the par-3 14th. He was right of the green on the par-5 15th and chipped in for eagle to restore the margin to three shots.
Fitzpatrick, the 2023 winner of the RBC Heritage, closed with three pars to reach 17-under 196.
He started another warm, breezy day with a one-shot lead over Viktor Hovland (73), four clear of everyone else. Fitzpatrick goes into the final round with four players within four shots of the lead, starting with the No. 1 player in the world.
“Good to be back in the tournament,” Scheffler said. “I was a little bit behind the 8-ball going into today, but had a nice round to put myself back in position.”
So did Brian Harman, who recovered from a slow start for the second straight week. The former British Open champion opened with a 71 and had his best score ever at Harbour Town with a 63 that left him four behind along with Si Woo Kim (66) and Sepp Straka (67).
Even before Fitzpatrick teed off, Scheffler was making a move — a pair of birdies in the 6-foot range, a pair of birdies from the greenside bunkers on the par 5s and a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 6.
“It felt like I had already gotten myself into contention there,” Scheffler said, figuring the last group had not even started.
Fitzpatrick went long on the first hole and left and long on the third, both times failing to save par. He made another bogey on the par-3 seventh, and by then an entire cast of contenders were back in the tournament.
Scheffler, Harman and Kim each had at least a share of the lead at one point. Harman closed out his round by holing a bunker shot on the par-3 17th.
“Just tried to keep the pedal down. It’s going to take a low number to win,” Harman said.
But it started to turn for Fitzpatrick when he ripped driver on the 315-yard ninth, the ball landing on the front of the bunker and hopping onto the green to about 75 feet away, leading to a two-putt birdie. Three holes later, he converted a 10-foot birdie putt and was on his way.
Scheffler and Fitzpatrick played together the opening two rounds, and the Englishman put seven shots between them to the 36-hole lead.
Scheffler, coming off a runner-up finish in the Masters, figured he would need one of his best rounds to at least have a chance. He also needed a little help. His 64 was the best score of the 14 players ahead of him, and all but three of those players did no better than 68.
“Fitzpatrick goes out today and shoots 64, that’s going to make things really hard for me,” Scheffler said. "You need a tiny bit of help, but I can’t control what those guys are going to do. If somebody shows up and shoots 28 under on this golf course, sometimes you just get beat.
“So going into today I was just going to do my best and see where that left me.”
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