HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Matt Fitzpatrick is back at his happy place, the Low Country resort that his family visited as a kid for vacations from England. Fitzpatrick, who won the 2023 RBC Heritage, torched Harbour Town Golf Links to the tune of a bogey-free 8-under 63 on Friday to race in front at the PGA Tour signature event.
Fitzpatrick birdied three holes in a row on each nine, including a wild birdie at the par-3 14th when his 8-iron sailed left, hit a tree and ricocheted back into play and on the fringe of the green. He proceeded to make the 33-foot putt for an improbable deuce.
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“You need those in golf,” he said. “It’s not always going to go your way for 72 holes. Nice to get the break and then nice to take advantage of it.”
Fitzpatrick won last month at the Valspar Championship, but his putter let him down last week at the Masters, where he finished T-18. For the season, he ranks 94th in Strokes Gained: Putting, but after a chat and some work on the practice green with his putting coach Phil Kenyon, he found his touch and ranks third in the field of 82 this week.
“I was frustrated and disappointed,” Fitzpatrick said, “and felt like we needed to really look into things and have a thought about what’s going to be different this week. Is it technically? Is it reading? We touched on a few things and just feel like it’s given me a little bit more freedom, more than anything.”
Fitzpatrick is playing this week with a Harbour Town Golf Links headcover shaped like the iconic red-and-white striped lighthouse standing sentinel behind the 18th green. “The club gives him a new one every year,” said Fitzpatrick’s father, Russ.
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Matt recounted playing a practice round this week with Keegan Bradley, who wondered how the family settled on visiting the southernmost tip of the island for family vacations. Matt said he told him that his father Googled tennis, golf, and good weather.
“Florida was a fortune at that time, so here was a great spot,” Fitzpatrick said.
He figures they came three or four times beginning when he was nine or 10 years old, but only played the golf course twice with his father. Russ said Matt played more tennis than golf, taking lessons at the Stan Smith Academy, and noted that Matt could really play tennis, too. On more than one occasion, the Fitzpatricks planned their vacation to the Palmetto State around the annual Tour stop here.
“I remember I think I ended up getting a golf ball from Boo Weekley,” Matt said of the two-time champion. “Just really, really good memories.”
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His parents are here, as is his wife, who announced that she and Matt are expecting their first child later this year. He said this week doesn’t feel like a holiday, but he’s made it look as easy as one as he’s raced to 14-under 128. To do so alongside Scottie Scheffler, who shot a bogey-free 67 but sits a touchdown and an extra point behind at the halfway point, speaks to the sublime performance by Fitzpatrick. But when asked if he took pleasure in doing so in front of the world No. 1, Fitzpatrick laughed and said, “Not something I was thinking about.”
When he won in a playoff in 2023, Fitzpatrick shot 17 under, but he figures that likely won’t be enough if he wants to don the tartan jacket again. If he can pull off that feat, he’ll have more in common with Weekley than just possession of one of his golf balls.
Adam Schupak is a senior writer at Golfweek, covering the PGA Tour.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Matt Fitzpatrick leads RBC Heritage after a bogey-free 63
