HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler delivered the moving day performance many expected, carding a third-round 64 at the RBC Heritage to surge into contention and set up a compelling Sunday showdown with leader Matt Fitzpatrick.
Scheffler entered Saturday's third round at 7-under par, trailing Fitzpatrick by seven shots after opening rounds of 68 and 67. The deficit proved temporary as the defending champion exploded from the gates with five birdies in his first six holes, quickly trimming the gap to two strokes before reaching a tie for the lead with a front-nine 31.
"Good to be back in the tournament," said Scheffler. "I was a little bit behind the 8-ball going into today but had a nice round to put myself back in position. ... I knew I didn't have to do anything crazy in order to get back in contention. I just had to have a really nice round. Was able to get off to a really good start and had a good finish."
After stalling on the back nine, Scheffler regrouped to birdie two of his final three holes, posting a 14-under tournament total and sitting in solo second, three shots behind Fitzpatrick heading into Sunday's final round.
The 20-time PGA TOUR winner has struggled this season with his typically dominant approach play, ranking 81st in Strokes Gained: Approach after years of excellence in that category. He's still seeking his first victory since The American Express in January, but his third-round performance at Harbour Town showed signs of his championship form returning.
Scheffler ranked 21st in the field for approach play during Saturday's round and relied heavily on his short game, capitalizing on scoring opportunities by making every putt inside 14 feet on the front nine.
The defending champion brings valuable course knowledge to Sunday's final round, having captured the 2024 RBC Heritage at 19-under par by three shots. He became the first player since Bernhard Langer in 1985 to win both the Masters and RBC Heritage in consecutive weeks.
"I think having experience on a golf course always helps," said Scheffler. "This is a golf course where as you get later in the day, it typically will get more challenging just because the golf course continues to firm up. You continue to get more wind, and I think closing out on this golf course can be challenging."
Scheffler will play alongside Fitzpatrick in Sunday's final group, facing another past Harbour Town champion in what promises to be a compelling duel. Si Woo Kim, Sepp Straka and Brian Harman trail at 13-under par, five shots back of the leader.
The world No. 1 expressed clear admiration for his playing partner and chief rival heading into the final round.
"Yeah, Fitzy is a guy that I think – I admire him because he works really hard. He's a guy that I see always doing stuff in order to play well. He's a guy that gets really into his stats. He's a guy that's going to check every single box that he can in order to get out here and play well," said Scheffler.
"You look at him when he first came out, he was a lot slower off the tee than he is now. He's got a lot of speed. He doesn't use it on every single shot, but he uses it when necessary. Not only is he a hard worker, but I think he's a really smart player, as well."
Scheffler enters Sunday's final round coming off a second-place finish to Rory McIlroy at the Masters, where he mounted a similar weekend charge. After stumbling with a second-round 74 at Augusta National, he fired a third-round 65 to move within four shots of the lead before ultimately finishing one stroke behind McIlroy.
Now Scheffler finds himself in a similar position at Harbour Town, three shots back with 18 holes remaining. His moving day surge has positioned him perfectly for another weekend rally, this time against a formidable opponent in Fitzpatrick who has shown his own championship mettle at this venue.
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*Originally published on [Golf News Global](https://golfnews.global/article/scheffler-surges-into-contention-with-third-round-64-at-rbc-heritage). Visit for full coverage.*
