For the second time in 2023 a PGA Tour event needed to go to a playoff. For the second time in his golf career Matt Fitzpatrick won as a professional in the United States.
On Sunday, Fitzpatrick of Sheffield, England won the 2023 Royal Bank of Canada Heritage event in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Fitzpatrick’s four round score of -17 put him into a playoff against Jordan Spieth of Dallas, Texas. There, Fitzpatrick and Spieth went to three extra holes. On the first two holes Fitzpatrick and Spieth both had scores of par. Then on the 18th hole, Fitzpatrick had a birdie and Spieth had a bogey.
Fitzpatrick’s most notable result in the four rounds of action came on the third hole of round three. That is when he posted an impressive eagle with a score of two on a par four. In all, Fitzpatrick had 20 birdies over 75 rounds of golf.
Fitzpatrick’s first professional win in the United States came at the 2022 United States Open. There he posted a score of -6 and defeated Americans Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris by a stroke.
The first PGA event in 2023 that went to a playoff came at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on February 26. That is when Chris Kirk of Knoxville, Tennessee defeated Eric Cole of Orlando, Florida with a birdie after both players played 72 holes of golf tied at -14.
It should be noted that Fitzpatrick had one prestigious golf victory in the United States at the amateur level. He won the 2013 United States Amateur.
