Former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick hit a superb, bogey-free 63 to say a one-shot lead over Viktor Hovland after a punishing second round on the RBC Heritage in South Carolina.
On a day of sweltering warmth and unpredictable wind, the Englishman moved to 14 below par with an impeccable round helped by a stroke of fortune on the par-three 14th.
After pulling his tee shot in direction of the timber, Fitzpatrick’s ball struck a cart path, ricocheted again on to the inexperienced, and was solely prevented from trickling into the water by a well-positioned sprinkler head.
He capitalised totally, holing the next 30-foot putt for an unbelievable birdie.
“Yeah, it was lucky, there’s no two ways about it,” Fitzpatrick mentioned. “Sometimes you need that in a week, so it’s nice to get, and then even nicer to take advantage of it.”
The 2023 champion adopted up with two additional birdies in his closing three holes to surge forward of the sector.
Norway’s Hovland stays his closest challenger after a shocking birdie on the seventeenth saved him in the hunt.
“I wouldn’t say I striped it today, but at least I kind of kept the ball in front of me, and that’s what you’re trying to do on this golf course,” Hovland mentioned.
World primary Scottie Scheffler, enjoying alongside Fitzpatrick, produced a characteristically disciplined 67. Despite hitting each fairway, the American struggled to transform a number of birdie alternatives and sits seven photographs adrift.
Jordan Spieth was amongst these to undergo in the tough situations, carding three double bogeys in a irritating 72, whereas Akshay Bhatia hit 11 birdies in a round of 63 to climb again to -6.
