HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — With 17 of the top 20 players in the Official World Golf Ranking competing in the 2023 RBC Heritage, it was expected that the cream would rise to the top of the leaderboard.
That was the case on Friday after the early morning wave at Harbour Town Golf Links as World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler shot up the leaderboard, with Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott all in the mix. But there were a couple unexpected players who made their presence felt with excellent rounds.
Jimmy Walker, who entered the week at No. 406 in the world, shot his second straight 6-under 65 and went to the club house with a three-stroke lead at 12 under, three shots ahead of Scottie Scheffler and Justin Rose. The 44-year-old Texan was on the top of the golf world when he won the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club, one of his six wins on Tour.
But he was diagnosed with Lyme disease just before the 2017 Masters and has been struggling to regain his form, battling it ever since. The former Baylor star made seven birdies Friday, including a chip in from 51 feet at the 184-yard, par-3 seventh.
“Yesterday, I got it going, and I was like, okay, wow. Now we need to pedal down, keep it going, and the same today,” Walker said. “It was take advantage, keep your head in the game, keep stroking it good, just keep doing all the things that I felt like I’ve been kind of working on, some old feels, old thoughts, and just stay on them and be really diligent about it because it’s so easy to just check out. It has been for me, especially after being sick.”
Walker was taking a break from the game in April of 2022, and then in September the opportunity arose to take a top 50 all-time money winners exemption when the Tour suspended players who joined LIV Golf, and they were knocked off that list — allowing Walker to rise nine spots in the rankings to No. 50.
He has missed the cut in eight of 12 appearances this season, but has three top-25 finishes in the cuts he’s made.
“It was a pretty easy decision honestly. I was 50, and if I didn’t play, I’d never get it again. I just wouldn’t. So when it happened, it was kind of like, wow, this is incredible,” Walker said. “I immediately shifted gears and talked to my family and said, this is it. This is what we’re going to do.”
Walker said he has the experience and knows what it takes to win, but his illness has taken its toll.
“I haven’t put two really good rounds together back to back out here … since getting sick, mentally and physically feel different damn near every day, and that’s been the hardest part,” Walker said. “The things that I work on one day, I can’t feel it the next day. Some days I’ll get two days out of it. So that’s been the hardest part.
“I’ve never felt like I’ve ever been afraid to go win a golf tournament. I’ve won golf tournaments in all sorts of fashions, big events played on the biggest stages. So there’s nothing I haven’t done. Nothing this weekend is any different than anything I’ve ever done honestly. Just go do it again because it’s fun if you win.”
Mark Hubbard shot a solid 66 to move to 8-under par and in a tie for third after the morning wave. The 33-year old San Jose State graduate has never won a PGA Tour event. He entered the week at No. 132 in the world and is looking to improve on his best RBC Heritage finish of a tie for 33rd last year.
Hubbard’s only slip on the scorecard came at the 16th, a hole that calls for a draw with the driver — a shot that doesn’t fit his eye. But he responded with his sixth birdie of the day on No. 18, draining a nine footer to end his round.
He withdrew from the pro-am Wednesday with a 24-hour bug, but after sleeping it off got off to a great start with birdies at Nos. 1, 2 and 4.
“I think that’s a scoreable part of the course, and it’s very calm this morning, really all day,” Hubbard said. “The greens were a little softer, then they started to firm up a little in the afternoon. I think you’ve got to just kind of get off to that start out here with two of the three par-5s in the first six holes. I felt good.”
Fleetwood is making his fourth appearance at Harbour Town, and the 32-year old Englishman was on top of his game as he made eight birdies, with a pair of bogeys on the back nine (his front nine Friday). His iron game was spot on as he hit 14 of 18 greens and made 112 feet of putts, with the longest being a 37-foot bomb for birdie at No. 18.
“My consistency is sort of all right, but I’m not at the top of the leaderboards, and that’s where I want to get to,” said Fleetwood, who is No. 25 in the World Golf Ranking.
He said Harbour Town suits his game, and he loves competing in tournaments the week after a major.
“It’s not somewhere where you can overpower. I think you have to be very patient. I think you have to be a good iron player,” he said. “There’s definitely aspects of the golf course that I like and I enjoy playing. I’d love the wind to be up a bit more over the weekend and have that challenge to play with.
“I actually enjoy playing the week after majors. I feel like they’re the ultimate in every aspect of your game and the challenges that the game can present you. I think the majors are the ultimate, and I quite like coming the week after. That way you’ve prepared so hard for those, and you feel like you’ve done everything you can. So you sort of come here with the mindset of everything’s done and you just go out and play. I don’t know whether it’s the timing of what this event is or whether it’s the course, but I seem pretty happy with both.”
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