He made equipment changes, he made several scouting trips to Augusta National and yet he missed the weekend. Little mistakes added up, and he fell short of the career grand slam once again.
The RBC Heritage was next up on the schedule, a designated event that boasted the best field the tournament had ever seen.
He received some backlash after his withdrawal because the event at Harbour Town Golf Links was the second designated event he skipped in 2023 — all players are allowed to miss one this season.
Now he returns to Quail Hollow Club, the site of his first Tour win in 2010, for the Wells Fargo Championship.
The three-time winner in Charlotte, North Carolina, spoke with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis about his decision to spend some time at home instead of playing in Hilton Head Island.
“More for my mental and emotional well-being I needed to be at home for those few weeks … I think I’m in a better head space than I was,” he said.
After a few events with a Scotty Cameron in the bag, McIlroy has gone back to his TaylorMade Spider X putter. He lost .85 strokes with the Titleist wand at the Masters.
“I had my best ever putting year on Tour last year so no need to throw the baby out with the bath water,” he told Lewis.
In 2021, the Northern Irishman missed the cut at Augusta and went on to win the Wells Fargo in his very next start. In fact, since the start of the 2020-21 season, McIlroy has finished inside the top 10 five times in his next start following an MC (seven missed cuts during that span).
Now, one of Cantlay’s playing partners during the final round at Harbour Town Golf Links has addressed the pace of play problem in golf.
Matt Fitzpatrick, the eventually winner over Jordan Spieth in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, spoke with Sky Sports and said pace of play on Tour is “truly appalling. No one’s going to do anything about it.”
Watch the full clip below.
"It's truly appalling. No one's going to do anything about it."
It’s the sixth designated event of the 2022-23 PGA Tour season so once again, big bucks were up for grabs.
It’s the sixth designated event of the 2022-23 PGA Tour season and once again, big bucks were up for grabs.
A $20 million total purse and a $3.6 million first-place prize were on the line at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
He needed three extra holes to win it, but Matt Fitzpatrick outlasted defending champion Jordan Spieth to claim the title, his second PGA Tour win and first since the 2022 U.S. Open.
After stuffing his 9-iron to mere inches away, Fitzpatrick, who started the final round with a one-shot lead over Patrick Cantlay, tapped in for the win.
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Fitzpatrick dons the champion’s tartan jacket by sticking a 9-iron from 186 yard to inches on the third playoff hole.
Matt Fitzpatrick has dreamed of winning at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina ever since his family started vacationing there when he was six years old.
On Sunday, with his parents in his gallery, Fitzpatrick joined the list of winners to wear the champion’s tartan jacket by sticking a 9-iron from 186 yard to inches on the famed 18th hole, the third playoff hole, to beat Jordan Spieth and win the RBC Heritage for his second win on the PGA Tour.
“I think I can retire now. This one is the one that I’ve always wanted to win,” Fitzpatrick said. “There isn’t a higher one on my list to win than this one, and that’s the truth. My family can tell you that, and my friends can tell you the same thing. This place is just a special place for me, and it means the world to have won it.”
England’s Fitzpatrick, the reigning U.S. Open champion, shot a final-round 3-under 68 for a 72-hole total of 17-under 267. He also climbed to a career-best of eighth in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Fitzpatrick, 28, who carried a head cover of Hilton Head Island’s iconic candy-cane striped lighthouse on his driver this week, matched Spieth with a birdie at 15 and tied him for the lead with another circle on the card at 16 to improve to 17 under.
“He snuck in and played some tremendous golf,” Spieth said.
Matt Fitzpatrick lines up a putt on the 11th green during the final round of the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on April 16, 2023 in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Fitzpatrick held the 54-hole lead after shooting a third-round 8-under 63, his lowest round on the PGA Tour, which included a hole-out eagle at the third. On Sunday, he made birdie at two and clenched his fist when he canned a 36-foot par putt at the third from off the green to maintain the lead.
“That may be bigger than the hole out,” CBS’s Colt Knost chimed in.
Meanwhile, Spieth, winner of 13 Tour titles, was attempting to defend a title for the first time in his career and came out charging with four birdies in his first six holes to erase a two-stroke overnight deficit.
On a mostly sunny but windy day with it blowing out of the southwest, Spieth jumped in front at No. 7 when Fitzpatrick failed to get up and down from the left greenside bunker. It was his first bogey in 30 holes and proved to be his last of the day.
For much of the day, Spieth’s chief opponent for the tartan jacket appeared to be Patrick Cantlay, not Fitzpatrick, which was shaping up as a rematch of last year’s playoff when Spieth made birdie on the first extra hole to win the title.
But there were a few dicey moments on the back nine for Spieth, who closed in 66. Ever the escape artist, he drove into the water guarding the left side of the 10th hole, took a penalty, dropped and drilled his third shot to 8 feet and saved par.
Cantlay caught Spieth with a pair of birdies at Nos. 9 and 10. But Spieth opened up a two-stroke lead when he stiffed his approach at 13 and Cantlay made a 3-putt bogey. Both players had tricky chips at the par-3 14th that raced by the hole, with Cantlay’s barely staying dry by lodging between the wooden bulkhead of the green and a railroad tie. They both made bogeys, and the second straight bogey for Cantlay eventually left him a shot out of a playoff (68) and alone in third.
Xander Schauffele made a late charge with three birdies in his final four holes to shoot 66 and finish a stroke behind Cantlay in fourth. World No. 1 Jon Rahm, who won the Masters a week ago, shot a final-round 68 and finished T-15.
On the first playoff hole, Spieth lipped out a 13-foot birdie putt at 18 to win and dropped his putter and grabbed his head with both hands in disbelief.
“I think if I hit the same putt 10 times, it goes in eight times,” Spieth said. “It should go left at the very end there on the grain. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
On the second playoff hole, both players hit beautiful tee shots at the par-3 17th and again Spieth had a chance to win but missed from just inside 10 feet to send the playoff to a third hole. Given a third lease on life, Fitzpatrick had a perfect number and took care of business with a 9-iron every bit as good as the one he hit to sew up his victory at the U.S. Open at The Country Club in June. Walking to the final green at Harbour Town with caddie Billy Foster, Fitzpatrick couldn’t help but reflect on how meaningful this week had been to him.
“I said to Billy, you know, it doesn’t get better than this,” Fitzpatrick said. “Walking down here just looking around, it’s a course I dreamed of playing when I was young…Yeah, this one means more than anything.”
During the third round, CBS trained one its cameras far off into the distance to zero in on a large airplane
During Saturday’s third-round coverage of the 2023 RBC Heritage, a CBS camera zeroed in on a large airplane making its way toward Harbour Town Golf Links.
As the plane flew closer, it was revealed to be a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, painted white with green letters spelling out EVA Air, a Taipei-based airline that serves Asia and Europe as well as North America.
The plane started dipping its wings from right to left as it flew over the 18th hole. PGA Tour golfers and fans alike paused to look up.
According to yahoo.com, Boeing’s 787 family of aircraft are assembled exclusively in North Charleston, South Carolina. The 787-10 is 224 feet long and has a wingspan of 197 feet and can seat up to 336 passengers.
The official name of the tournament is the RBC Heritage presented by Boeing. The airline manufacturer has been the event’s presenting sponsor for 12 years.
Matt Fitzpatrick fired an 8-under 63 on Saturday, the lowest of his PGA Tour career. He leads Patrick Cantlay by one shot. Defending champion Jordan Spieth shot a 5-under 66 on Day 3 and is two strokes behind Fitzpatrick on the leaderboard. Spieth would be the fourth player to successfully defend at the RBC Heritage.
The winner will take home $3.6 million, as this is the sixth designated event of the year, with a total purse of $20 million.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for Sunday’s final round of the 2023 RBC Heritage. All times Eastern.
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Sunday tee times
Tee time
Players
8:30 a.m.
Justin Lower, Luke Donald
8:40 a.m.
Harris English, Kramer Hickok
8:50 a.m.
Kevin Streelman, Matthew NeSmith, Justin Suh
9:01 a.m.
Viktor Hovland, Jim Herman, Shane Lowry
9:12 a.m.
Austin Smotherman, Garrick Higgo, Danny Willett
9:23 a.m.
James Hahn, Zach Johnson, Max McGreevy
9:34 a.m.
Doug Ghim, Lucas Herbert, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
9:45 a.m.
Justin Thomas, Davis Thompson, Beau Hossler
9:56 a.m.
Andrew Putnam, Cameron Young, Ernie Els
10:07 a.m.
Adam Schenk, K.H. Lee, Ben Martin
10:22 a.m.
Tyrrell Hatton, Tony Finau, Adam Svensson
10:33 a.m.
Nate Lashley, Adam Long, Sam Burns
10:44 a.m.
Ben Griffin, Nick Taylor, Gary Woodland
10:55 a.m.
Chris Kirk, Scott Stallings, Denny McCarthy
11:06 a.m.
Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Michael Thompson
11:17 a.m.
Jon Rahm, Aaron Rai, Justin Rose
11:28 a.m.
Adam Scott, Brendon Todd, Carson Young
11:39 a.m.
Sahith Theegala, Corey Conners, Lee Hodges
11:54 a.m.
Brian Harman, Patton Kizzire, Patrick Rodgers
12:05 p.m.
Keegan Bradley, Sungjae Im, Russell Henley
12:16 p.m.
Matt Kuchar, Emiliano Grillo, Xander Schauffele
12:27 p.m.
Cam Davis, Hayden Buckley, Rickie Fowler
12:38 p.m.
Jimmy Walker, Scottie Scheffler, Chez Reavie
12:49 p.m.
Taylor Moore, Mark Hubbard, Tommy Fleetwood
1 p.m.
Matt Fitzpatrick, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth
TV, streaming, radio information
You can watch Golf Channel for free on fuboTV. ESPN+ is the exclusive home for PGA Tour Live streaming. All times Eastern.
We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, sports viewing and streaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
We’re 18 holes away from crowning a champion of the 2023 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
And Sunday is set to be a good one.
Jimmy Walker, the 36-hole leader, stumbled a little bit on Saturday, shooting a 1-over 72 and is tied for fourth, three back. Despite three bogeys on the back nine, including on Nos. 14 and 15, he did the “walk-and-talk” on CBS, chatting with Jim Nantz as he played the par-4 16th hole, which he parred.
Ranked 406th in the world, Walker, the 2016 PGA Championship winner, is back contending after several years of battling illness.
When asked his feeings on so many of his fellow pros asking about him, he said: “Well, that’s good. I’ve tried to live a good life, be a good dude, so that’s great. I appreciate it.”
Matt Fitzpatrick took advantage of ideal scoring conditions and shot his lowest round on the PGA Tour, an 8-under 63. He sits atop the leaderboard by one entering the final round.
If you missed any of Saturday’s action, no worries, we have you covered. Here’s everything you need to know from the third round of the RBC Heritage.
“It’s my job to perform. They don’t care if I slept good or bad, I feel good or bad.”
Jon Rahm is the first Masters champ to tee it up the very next week on the PGA Tour since Jordan Spieth eight years ago. Admittedly tired, Rahm nonetheless kept his word to the RBC Heritage and had a great answer when asked whether he considered withdrawing.
“I put myself in the shoes of not only the spectators, but the kids as well. If I was one of the kids, I would want to see the recent Masters champion play good or bad, just want to be there,” he said ahead of the tournament.
After opening with a 72, the big-hitting Spaniard torched Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina, with a second-round 64.
As golf stats guru Justin Ray points out, it’s Rahm’s 24th round of 64 or better since 2018, second only to Justin Thomas’ 25.
But after that second round, he was asked a curious question: “Was there ever a thought that maybe just take the weekend off?”
With a puzzled look on his face, Rahm replied: “What, like throw it?”
“No, not throw it,” came the follow up.
A still-puzzled Rahm then said: “I don’t understand what you mean right now.”
Then came the “why play good” question.
“It’s my job, right?” Rahm explained. “It’s like I said in the press conference. People pay their hard-earned money to watch me perform. It’s my job to perform. They don’t care if I slept good or bad, I feel good or bad. It doesn’t matter.
The winner will take home $3.6 million, as this is the sixth designated event of the year, with a total purse of $20 million.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for Saturday’s third round of the 2023 RBC Heritage. All times Eastern.
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Saturday tee times
Tee time
Players
7:50 a.m.
Matthew NeSmith
7:55 a.m.
Jim Herman, Nick Taylor
8:05 a.m.
Adam Schenk, Justin Lower
8:15 a.m.
Justin Suh, Max McGreevy
8:25 a.m.
Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley
8:35 a.m.
Harris English, Luke Donald
8:45 a.m.
Adam Long, K.H. Lee
8:55 a.m.
Ben Martin, Wyndham Clark
9:05 a.m.
Andrew Putnam, Patrick Rodgers
9:15 a.m.
Sam Burns, Lucas Herbert
9:30 a.m.
Austin Smotherman, Shane Lowry
9:40 a.m.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Kramer Hickok
9:50 a.m.
Michael Thompson, Cameron Young
10 a.m.
James Hahn, Garrick Higgo
10:10 a.m.
Chris Kirk, Kevin Streelman
10:20 a.m.
Sahith Theegala, Ernie Els
10:30 a.m.
Tyrrell Hatton, Scott Stallings
10:40 a.m.
Tony Finau, Danny Willett
10:50 a.m.
Sungjae Im, Chez Reavie
11:05 a.m.
Russell Henley, Corey Conners
11:15 a.m.
Zach Johnson, Adam Svensson
11:25 a.m.
Cam Davis, Justin Thomas
11:35 a.m.
Lee Hodges, David Thompson
11:45 a.m.
Gary Woodland, Denny McCarthy
11:55 a.m.
Adam Scott, Brendon Todd
12:05 p.m.
Hayden Buckley, Beau Hossler
12:15 p.m.
Carson Young, Matt Fitzpatrick
12:25 p.m.
Jon Rahm, Doug Ghim
12:40 p.m.
Rickie Fowler, Nate Lashley
12:50 p.m.
Matt Kuchar, Brian Harman
1 p.m.
Emiliano Grillo, Ben Griffin
1:10 p.m.
Jordan Spieth, Patton Kizzire
1:20 p.m.
Viktor Hovland, Taylor Moore
1:30 p.m.
Patrick Cantlay, Aaron Rai
1:40 p.m.
Mark Hubbard, Tommy Fleetwood
1:50 p.m.
Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele
2 p.m.
Jimmy Walker, Scottie Scheffler
TV, streaming, radio information
You can watch Golf Channel for free on fuboTV. ESPN+ is the exclusive home for PGA Tour Live streaming. All times Eastern.
We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, sports viewing and streaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
"It's truly appalling. No one's going to do anything about it."
(@GolfonCBS) 
