It seems like only one thing could stop Scottie Scheffler from taking a tartan jacket for the road when he leaves Harbour Town Golf Links, but even that call — yes, that call — might not stop the golfer who is on a heater like we haven’t seen since Tiger Woods.
Harnessing the heat after a dominant second win at The Masters a week ago, Scheffler was strolling toward his fourth win in his last five PGA Tour starts on Sunday at the RBC Heritage presented by Boeing when he ran into the one thing that could stall his momentum when they made him stop hitting shots.
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Heavy rain and thunderstorms blew in just as Scheffler was turning for home, and play was suspended at 4:28 p.m. with the final pairing playing the 12th hole. The storm system stalled and kept the tournament at a standstill until 7 p.m., and Scheffler called it a night by sinking a par-saving putt in the twilight at the 15th after players had been given the option to mark their balls and come back in the morning.
“I hit a really nice shot in there, so I felt like I had good momentum,” said Scheffler, whose second shot found the water after his ball picked up mud in the soggy post-storm conditions. “I kind of knew what the putt was doing. I felt like today was a day where I hit a lot of really good putts and they weren’t really dropping. I felt like I was due for one to drop. So I figured might as well hit it now.”
RBC HERITAGE
Round 4 Leaders
1. Scottie Scheffler –20 (15)
T2. Wyndham Clark -15 (F)
Patrick Cantlay -15 (17)
J.T. Poston -15 (17)
Sahith Theegala -15 (15)
T6. Justin Thomas -14 (F)
Ludvig Åberg -14 (17)
Patrick Rodgers -14 (16)
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He ran it in to preserve a bogey-free streak that stretches back to the par-4 third hole in Thursday’s opening round, when a tough lie in the greenside bunker led to double bogey.
Not a blemish since.
“I think we all expect him to play well, and there’s nothing I can do about it,” is how Swedish sensation Ludvig Åberg put it.
Challengers tried to emerge Sunday, mostly before Scheffler took the tee before a crowd packed several deep along the first fairway to steal a glimpse of greatness.
Wyndham Clark posted a scorching 7-under 29 on the front nine right around the moment Scheffler took the wind out of everyone’s sails.
A chip-in eagle from behind the green at the par-5 second hole vaulted Scheffler to 18 under, and he added a birdie at the par-5 fifth just as Clark moved to 8 under for the day with a birdie at 11, maintaining a two-shot cushion.
With the pressure mounting to go even lower if he wanted to win, Clark blocked his tee shot at the 12th to the right and clipped a tree trying to punch out. The ball caromed out of bounds, leading to a double-bogey 6.
The coronation was underway when the rain moved in. The delay and the drastically different course conditions provided a narrow window, but Scheffler slammed it shut with a dart to 6 feet for a birdie at No. 13, then flirted with disaster on his last two holes of the day but walked away with a pair of pars and a 99.8 percent chance of wearing plaid Monday morning, according to datagolf.com.
“I felt like the par was pretty important tonight, just being able to go to sleep and still keeping a clean card,” Scheffler said of the decision to hit the final putt before nightfall.
Scheffler is five shots clear of Clark and a trio of players with shots left to hit, but not enough to make up much ground — Patrick Cantlay and J.T. Poston are playing 18, and Sahith Theegala will take his second shot from the rough at 16 when play resumes.
The leader said he planned to get to bed as early as possible and show up Monday morning to prepare as if he were playing 18 holes.
He might be the only one who isn’t taking Monday morning for granted.
“I think conditions are going to be pretty tough tomorrow morning,” Scheffler said. “That may be why also I was thinking about hitting that putt. I think the wind is supposed to pick up. It’ll be a challenging last few holes.”
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