This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
The No. 1 TV show or a blockbuster movie has nothing on the PGA Tour in 2023. Week after week after week, the Tour has been presenting riveting drama, compelling storylines and incredible action, all being delivered by the biggest stars in golf.
One week after a stirring Masters, the RBC Heritage continued this amazing narrative. The top five guys on the leaderboard as the back nine began on Sunday were all ranked top-20 in the world. Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick, Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im and Scottie Scheffler were within three shots of one another, and they all had a good chance to win.
In the end, it was Fitzpatrick hitting the shot of the year to fend off a snakebit-yet-again Spieth on the third playoff hole at venerable Harbour Town to capture his second career PGA Tour title.
The defending U.S. Open champion lasered a 9-iron from 186 yards to 12 inches for a kick-in birdie on the landmark par-4 18th hole to stun Spieth, who has now lost three Sunday back-nine leads in his past six starts. Both golfers had their chances to seize control late in regulation and on the first two playoff holes, but each also had to make a six-foot knee-knocker to stay alive.
Fitzpatrick had been meandering along in mediocrity all year with four missed cuts in eight starts until tying for 10th two weeks ago at the Masters. He carried his suddenly regained form onto Hilton Head Island, where he reversed his declining world ranking from 16th to a career-best No. 8.
For his efforts, Spieth also returned to the top 10 -- for the first time in almost a year -- at No. 9.
Virtually every week, the PGA Tour has enjoyed the good fortune of must-see golf tournaments. This was the seventh designated tournament in the past 10 weeks and eighth in 2023, so it sure helps to have almost all the top players in one place battling it out with one another. But even the non-designated events have featured enough big or near-big names and delivered on drama.
As for Fitzpatrick, one of his most impressive feats last year -- besides winning the U.S. Open for his first PGA Tour title -- was that he continued to play well after bagging his life-altering first major. But that stretch of good play did not carry over into 2023. The Englishman had had only one top-10 before Augusta, and that came in the first week of the year in the 39-man Tournament of Champions. He took the RBC 54-hole lead into Sunday, but he found himself in third place behind Spieth and Cantlay early on the back nine before rebounding.
There will be ebbs and flows almost always for just about every player, even the best ones.
Fitzpatrick will be back at it this coming week at the first of two straight non-designated events, partnering with younger brother Alex at the Zurich Classic team event.
The scores go so low -- Cantlay and Xander Schauffele shot a best-ball 59 en route to the title last year -- that it's another prime opportunity to present a "wow" moment in a 2023 that's been filled with them.
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Jordan Spieth
When you finish in the top-4 in four of your past six events, it's hard to find much to be unhappy about. But Spieth will, as would just about every other golfer, if they had lost back-nine leads in three of those tournaments. It also happened to Spieth at Bay Hill and the Valspar. He has now not won in more than a year – he was defending his RBC title – but with all these close calls, it seems just a matter of time before he converts one of them.
Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay shared the lead on the back-nine before fatal bogeys back to back on Nos. 13 and 14 left him close yet again at Harbour Town – he lost in a playoff to Spieth last year. Cantlay's solo third was his third top-four finish on Tour in his past six starts. Like with Spieth, when there's so much smoke there's bound to be fire in the form of a tournament win sooner rather than later.
Xander Schauffele
Cantlay's partner at next week's Zurich Classic made a late birdie run but ran out of holes. He shot a 5-under 66 to finish in solo fourth. This was Schauffele's third top-10 in a row and fifth in 2023. How is it possible for so many guys to be playing well enough that their next win seems not too far off? Because you could also say the same about this next guy.
Sahith Theegala
The 25-year-old shot the round of the day on Sunday, a 6-under 65 – which included a closing bogey -- to climb into a tie for fifth. That followed a tie for ninth at the Masters. Theegala is now into the top-25 for the first time in his young career, at No. 23. He'll also be in this week's Zurich Classic, alongside one of his former Southern California-area college foes in Justin Suh.
Hayden Buckley
Scrolling down the leaderboard, we've come to the first surprise name. The tie for fifth technically was not the best result of the 27-year-old's brief PGA Tour career (48 tournaments) because he was runner-up at the Sony earlier this year and T4 at the 2021 Sanderson Farms, But in this field, this was an impressive performance by Buckley. He is 33rd in the FedExCup point standings and doing it primarily with his driver, balancing length and accuracy to rank an elite fourth on Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. Buckley moved to a career-best 75th in the world rankings.
Sungjae Im
Im fell back with a closing bogey, into a tie for seventh. But this was another great week for him in 2023. He now has four top-10s and four other top-20s. Im will play this week's Zurich Classic with Keith Mitchell.
Brian Harman
Harman had been a mess in 2023, missing five of 10 cuts with no finish inside the top-15. That from a player who had two runners-up, two thirds and four other top-10s in 2022. At Harbour Town, Harman tied for seventh. Let's see whether this is the first step in rebuilding his game or a one-time reprieve.
Emiliano Grillo
Grillo's tie for seventh came out of nowhere. His best prior finish in 2023 was T39 at Bay Hill.
Cam Davis
Since a disastrous stretch of five straight missed cuts earlier this year, Davis has rebounded impressively. He tied for seventh at the RBC, his second top-10 and third top-20 in his past four starts. The other top-10 was a T6 at THE PLAYERS.
Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler wound up tied for 11th after a pair of bogeys early on the back-nine ended his chances.
Jon Rahm
The most tired man on all of Hilton Head Island followed up an opening 72 with rounds of 64-69-68. A tie for 15th the week after winning your first Masters deserves kudos.
Rickie Fowler
Fowler tied for 15th to continue his comeback season and move to the brink of the top-50 in the world at No. 52.
Matt Kuchar
Kuchar tied for 19th to move back into the top 50 in the world rankings for the first time in almost two years.
Justin Thomas
A week after his bad missed cut, Thomas tied for 25th. With Fitzpatrick and Spieth moving up, Thomas fell to 14th in the world rankings.
Ernie Els
The 53-year-old entered via a sponsor invite and not only made the cut, he beat way more than half of the 143-man field by tying for 56th. This was Els' first appearance on the PGA Tour -- outside of the Open Championship -- since the 2020 Memorial.
MISSED CUTS
More than half the field – 73 of 143 – made the cut. But a lot of top-50 guys didn't get through. In fact, 12 of them trunk-slammed. Big names will miss the cut every week, no matter what. But the shorter track brings lesser guys into the mix, and we can't discount a Masters hangover after a long, arduous week at Augusta National. Three guys really stand out as their 2023 struggles continue. Billy Horschel has now missed five of 10 cuts this year, with his only finish better than 30th coming in the Match Play (T9). Sepp Straka has missed only two of eight cuts, but he's had only one good week – T5 at the Honda. He was also T22 at the Valero, a so-so- result in a weaker field. Lastly, Kevin Kisner. Technically, he's no longer in the top-50 – that's how precipitous the 39-year-old's fall has been. He's missed five of nine cuts in 2023 with no finish inside the top-30. Others of note who MCed were Max Homa, Tom Kim, Si Woo Kim, Mitchell, Kurt Kitayama and Akshay Bhatia.
