Matt Fitzpatrick slips into playoff, beats Scottie Scheffler at RBC Heritage

England's Matt Fitzpatrick didn't flinch when more work was required on the final day of the RBC Heritage.

Field Level Media

Fitzpatrick birdied the first playoff hole with a 13-foot putt to win the tournament after world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler forced the extra play Sunday in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Fitzpatrick, whose bogey at No. 18 gave Scheffler new life, won for the second time this year to go with a runner-up finish in The Players Championship. He has four career victories on the tour, including two in this tournament (also 2023).

"To win it twice means the world," Fitzpatrick said. "To go toe-to-toe with Scottie and get over the line at the 73rd (hole) is special."

Fitzpatrick has four top-10 finishes in nine tournaments this year.

Scheffler recorded 67 and Fitzpatrick had 70 in the final round. They each posted 18-under 266s at Harbour Town Golf Links.

"(I) put up a good fight this week," Scheffler said. "It was just one of those deals where I played three out of four days with Fitzy, and every time he needed something, he made something happen. ... You name it, he was doing it, so he earned this one for sure."

Fitzpatrick hit a 4-iron to the green on his second shot when the duo replayed the 18th hole to begin the playoff, while Scheffler needed three shots to reach the putting surface.

"I felt like I was in a good spot, and to hit the 4-iron that I hit there was out of this world," Fitzpatrick said.

Scheffler pretty much agreed with that assessment.

"Fitzy made a great birdie there in the playoff," Scheffler said. "An incredible birdie the way this hole is playing right now."

Scheffler, who played alongside Fitzpatrick in the final grouping, made up three strokes across the last four holes to force the playoff.

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Fitzpatrick posted birdies on two of the first three holes -- sinking putts from 10 and 17 feet -- and then dialed up pars nearly the rest of the way.

"Felt like I got off to a great start ... and you feel like almost what could have been," Fitzpatrick said. "I knew Scottie was going to make some birdies down the stretch and I had to kind of hang in there a little bit."

South Korea's Si Woo Kim's birdie on No. 15 closed the gap to two strokes. Then Scheffler's birdie on the 15th also drew him within two shots of Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick saved par on No. 16 after his tee shot was in the rough before Scheffler sank a birdie putt to make it a one-stroke margin.

On the 18th, Fitzpatrick's first shot rolled into a fairway sand trap. He got out fine, but his chip onto the green stopped about 23 feet from the cup, and he ended up with his first bogey in 29 holes.

The tournament ended in a playoff for the fourth time in five years.

Kim (68) placed third at 16 under. Collin Morikawa (67), Harris English (69) and Sweden's Ludvig Aberg (70) shared fourth place at 13 under. Aberg's double bogey on No. 16 proved costly.

Bud Cauley (70) was seventh at 12 under.

Michael Kim's bogey-free 62 marked the best score of the round and was just one stroke away from matching the course record. That put him at 8 under and tied for 25th place.

"In the morning we really had no wind, and then on the back nine it started to blow a little bit," Michael Kim said.

Defending champion Justin Thomas posted 66 on Sunday for his only sub-70 round of the tournament. He ended up at 3 over and tied for 77th place.

--Field Level Media

Matt Fitzpatrick slips into playoff, beats Scottie Scheffler at RBC Heritage

England's Matt Fitzpatrick didn't flinch when more work was required on the final day of the RBC Heritage. Fitzpatrick bi...
Sociedad's Matarazzo: The American coach who studied math at Columbia and grew up watching Maradona

MADRID (AP) — A 48-year-old American coach who studied mathematics at Columbia and grew up watching Diego Maradona play for Napoli is now part of the history of Spanish club Real Sociedad in the Basque Country.

Associated Press Real Sociedad's head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, right, celebrates with Duje Caleta-Car after winning the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad in Seville, Spain, Saturday, April. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton) Real Sociedad's head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo celebrates after winning the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad in Seville, Spain, Saturday, April. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton) Real Sociedad's head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo celebrates after winning the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad in Seville, Spain, Saturday, April. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton) Real Sociedad's head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo celebrates after winning the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad in Seville, Spain, Saturday, April. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton) Real Sociedad's head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo gestures during the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad in Seville, Spain, Saturday, April. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Spain Copa del Rey Soccer

Pellegrino “Rino” Matarazzo led Sociedad to itsfourth Copa del Rey titleon Saturday with a penalty-shootout win over Atletico Madrid.

It was the first career title for the coach who left the United States to try to play soccer professionally and ended up becoming a manager in Germany.

“Just the feeling you have of ‘wow, wow, this happened, we did it, we did it,’" said Matarazzo, who in less than four months took Sociedad from near the relegation zone in the Spanish league to lifting the prestigious Copa del Rey trophy.

The New Jersey-born coach was hired in December when Sociedad was two points above the relegation zone. He guided it back to safety and to its title run in the Copa in what he called "an unbelievable journey."

“If you think about all the games that we played, every game has been very very special since I arrived and I think we finished with a very special game," the soft-spoken Matarazzo said. "Wow, wow...”

Matarazzo downplayed his role in the team's turnaround and credited his players' talent and character for the improvement and the title run in the Copa.

“I'm very grateful to be manager of this club, very very grateful,” Matarazzo said. “Being part of its history now is, of course, something special, and I'm also very grateful to have this team, these players, this staff, this club. It’s a product of the work we've done together in the past weeks.”

Italian roots

Matarazzo is from an Italian family whose parents met in the United States after emigrating to the country for work.

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Matarazzo's first language was Italian before he went to school. He used to watch Serie A matches on a small television in his father's bedroom during the time that Argentina great Maradona played for Napoli.

In an interview with Sociedad's TV channel, Matarazzo said he was always passionate about soccer even though the sport was far from popular while he grew up in the United States.

Before moving to Germany to try to play, Matarazzo earned a degree in mathematics from Columbia University, which he said has helped him as a coach even though he knows that the job is about people and not just numbers.

Career in Germany

Matarazzo, a defender, first tried to play in Italy but ended returning to the United States after what he called broken promises by agents. He was then invited by a friend to go to Germany, where he moved in his early 20s without knowing a word of German. He ended up staying and working in the country for 25 years.

Matarazzo started playing in the fourth division and eventually moved into coaching with Nuremberg’s reserves and youth sides. He was an assistant to Julian Nagelsmann when both were at Hoffenheim in 2018, then landed the Stuttgart job in December 2019. He steered the club back to the Bundesliga at the first attempt and guided it to a commendable finish in his first top-flight season.

He was fired by Stuttgart in late 2022 and about four months later was hired by Hoffenheim, where he stayed until the end of 2024, when he was let go following a disappointing season.

Matarazzo got off to a great start in Spain, and he hoped it could be "just the beginning” of a long and successful stint for him and the club.

“I hope that we continue to stay ambitious because we still have seven games left in La Liga and we can do more,” he said. “I'm not done yet, and hopefully we are not done yet.”

AP soccer:https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Sociedad's Matarazzo: The American coach who studied math at Columbia and grew up watching Maradona

MADRID (AP) — A 48-year-old American coach who studied mathematics at Columbia and grew up watching Diego Maradona play for Napoli is n...
“Is Your Brain More Logical Or Creative?”: Answer These 30 Questions And Find Out

Some people can’t leave the house without a plan. Others make the plan up as they go and call it fine. And somehow, both types are convinced their way makes more sense.

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“Is Your Brain More Logical Or Creative?”: Answer These 30 Questions And Find Out

Some people can’t leave the house without a plan. Others make the plan up as they go and call it fine. And somehow, both types are conv...

 

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