HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Feast or famine at Harbour Town Golf Links?
Not this year.
The RBC Heritage has turned into a smorgasbord of scoring and scores of players are filling their plates with eagles and birdies and going back for seconds and thirds. With little to no wind coming in off the sea and the small greens soft because they require constant watering due to the heat, players are devouring this tree-lined, quirky course full of doglegs that usually has players on edge.
And it hasn’t mattered that the players were on the shelf for 13 weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rust? Forget about it. Last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge there was a stampede to the finish line, with Daniel Berger coming out on top. Well, the stampede has moved to the Lowcountry.
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“I think people are hungry,” said Carlos Ortiz, who fired 63 and is tied for fifth. “They want to make money, so everybody’s trying to play good. I just think the conditions are ideal, especially yesterday morning there’s no wind, and today pretty much no wind. Greens are soft, so it’s throwing darts out there.
“Once you put yourself in position off the tee, I feel like you have short irons, and with soft greens, you have a good chance of putting it pretty close.”
On a sunlit Saturday, six players posted 63 – one shy of the PGA Tour record for most rounds of 63 or lower by a field set in round 2 of the RSM Classic in 2019. One of those 8-under 63s was posted by Tyrrell Hatton, who moved to 15 under through 54 holes and is in a four-way tie atop the leaderboard alongside Abraham Ancer (65), Ryan Palmer (66) and Webb Simpson (68).
Hatton won the Arnold Palmer Invitational before the COVID-19 pandemic halted play on the PGA Tour for 91 days.
“It wouldn’t be surprising tomorrow if someone around 20th place goes out and shoots potentially a really low score to win the tournament,” Hatton said. “If the weather’s the same, I think it will probably be another low scoring day.
“We’ve all had enough notice to try and get ready to play tournaments again. So it’s not massively surprising to see guys playing as well as they are.”
One shot back of the foursome of pace-setters were Ortiz, Berger (63) and Joel Dahmen (63). At 13 under, two back, was a large group that included Joaquin Niemann (63), Sergio Garcia (65), Chris Stroud (63), Michael Thompson (66), Ian Poulter (67), Matthew Fitzpatrick (68), Corey Conners (69) and Erik van Rooyen (66). At 12 under were five players, including Brooks Koepka (68), Dustin Johnson (67) and Bryson DeChambeau (70).
That’s 21 players within three shots of the lead.
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But don’t forget what Hatton said about someone around 20th place having a chance. Six players are tied for 22nd place at 11 under and just four shots behind, among them Tony Finau.
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy is tied for 28th at 10 under. You want to count him out? Might not be wise.
In all, 35 of the 75 players in the field are double-digits under par.
On Saturday, only eight players didn’t match or break par.
“I’m tied for fourth going into the day, and when I get on the range, I’m tied for 15th,” Palmer said. “The scores were just unbelievable out there. It just shows you, it’s so calm, guys can go low.
“I knew I had to get to 4 or 5 under today just to be up towards the top. I wasn’t sure I’d be tied for the lead, but a huge day. Huge day driving. Irons were pretty solid. Putting was there. I just didn’t make a few on the front that I could have, but overall, it’s there. I just need to put it all together for one round.
“I think I’ve got my lowest round yet ahead of me.”
He might need it to win.
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