Monday’s Scramble: The Fitz-Speth Duel, Rahm’s Delirious Parade, Questions for McIlroy

Matt Fitzpatrick and Jordan Spieth duel in Harbor Town, Jon Rahm honors his commitment, Rory McIlroy backs off, Will Zlatoris has surgery and more in this edition of Monday Stampede:

Another 9 perfect irons landed Matt Fitzpatrick won his second PGA Tour title.

Just as when he closed out the 2022 US Open with a once-in-a-lifetime shot, Fitzpatrick nailed a 9-iron from 187 yards that tracked toward the hole and ended up 12 inches, stealing the spotlight from Jordan Spieth in a three-game playoff in RBC Heritage.

For Fitzpatrick, this was the perfect follow-up to his flagship 10 months earlier. As a child, he often vacationed in Hilton Head, used his signature lighthouse hood for his first few years on tour, and called Harbor Town his second favorite track on the schedule (behind only Augusta National).

During a highly entertaining final round, the elegant Englishman didn’t miss a shot over the last four holes of regulation, ahead of Patrick Cantlay and coming into a tie with Spieth, who was looking for his biggest victory in nearly six years.

In overtime, Fitzpatrick got away twice after Spieth had two good looks that somehow burned the rim of the cup.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like that,” said Speth.

With a chance to close the door, Fitzpatrick tapped a perfect par on the 18th hole.

“Obviously finishing it made it a little bit easier,” he said.

Fitzpatrick moved to a career best eighth with the win. He’s taking part again this week at the Zurich Classic, along with his brother Alex, who has been competing in the Challenge Tour in Europe.

“My plan was to have fun today and look forward to next week, and now I can really enjoy next week,” said Fitzpatrick.

This year at least RBC’s legacy was no vacation work.

The post-Masters hangover may be real, but there’s still plenty to play for in Harbor Town, where the sixth dedicated event of the Tour season once again offered a $20 million purse, including $3.6 million to the winner.

John Rahm honored his commitment to play, even after Sunday’s marathon at the Masters left him physically and emotionally drained early in the week. In a laudable move, Ram signaled to young spectators that they would like to see the Masters champion emerge, as promised, just as Jordan Spieth did when he won the Green Jacket in 2015.

The second round put the 64 Ram on edge (he ended up a T-15), and after that, he seemed to understand his evolving role as an entertainer as much as an athlete.

“People pay their hard-earned money to watch me perform. They don’t care if I sleep good or bad. If I feel good or bad. It doesn’t matter. As a competitor, I don’t give up anything in that sense. And I try to shoot low.”

Ram’s position stands in stark contrast to that of Rory McIlroy, one of the architects of the designated event model who skipped his second New Year’s Elevated course and subsequently forfeited a quarter (or $3 million) of his 2022 Player Impact Program bonus.

McIlroy doesn’t need the extra cash, of course, and seeing his example, players in a similar tax bracket will likely make the same calculation: Why show up with gas for a mandatory event if the penalty won’t cost more than a few million dollars…or less than a winner’s check in one of These major stations?

Commissioner Jay Monahan has complete discretion over the allocation of funds, and it’s best to reserve judgment, because perhaps McIlroy, after losing in the Masters, had a reasonable and justified absence (he didn’t provide an explanation for his WD).

For now, at least, the optics are poor: all the bigger stars in the Tour are supposed to align—which is crucial on this year’s bridge—but the actual spokes seem to be the only ones who haven’t followed through.

McIlroy’s pre-tournament press conference at Quail Hollow promises to be an interesting one.

Is Zalatoris closed down last week After undergoing a microdiscectomy that doctors hope will end the discomfort in his lower back.

It was another frustrating setback for the 26-year-old from Texas, who missed the last four months of 2022 due to two herniated discs. Believing he was on the road to recovery, he ambitiously logged seven starts at the start of the year but was unable to go last week into the Masters, when he experienced pain and stiffness while preparing for the opening round.

Doctors opted for surgery, which Zlatoris said would keep him out until the fall.

This means that the world No. 10 will miss the next three majors, plus the Ryder Cup (just as he was forced to skip the Presidents Cup last fall).

Zalatoris wrote on Instagram, “As much as I hate not being able to play the rest of this season, I’m glad I’m already seeing the benefits of the procedure. Playing and living in pain is no fun.”

Hopefully he’ll be back to 100% sooner than expected – Willy Z’s career was taking off this past summer.

back again: golf team. The two-person Zurich event may not be a fortune in ratings, but it’s still a nice departure from the monotonous norm of the 72-hole stroke events that dominate the Tour schedule. Heading the field this year are the defending champions, Xander Schavelli and Patrick Cantlay, as well as Colin Morikawa, Max Homma, Sam Burns-Billy Hurschel, Tom Kim-Si Woo Kim, Sonjay M-Keith Mitchell, Sahith Thigala-Justin Suh. (*wipes eyes*) John Daly David Duvall.

Salutation: John Ram. Apparently, there’s no need for a walk-and-go when the best player on the planet goes straight from the court to the booth to kick it for half an hour while the last combos descend the expanse. Why listen to an announcer in the tower when Ram can eloquently break down the leaders’ games and guide us through their decision-making process with tricky planning? It’s these kinds of invaluable ideas that can make an upgraded TV product even better. It took a little nudge, but these guys finally got it: To turn the tour into an entertainment product with huge monetary bonuses for the top artists, they need to get involved, too. Respect everyone involved, especially Ram, who had no one to blame for crashing his rental home and waiting for his Monday morning ride home. Getting more of these talkative guys in the booth soon (Rory, Spith, Huma?!) is going to be a home run.

Worth the wait: Spencer Levine. Playing his 343rd Tour sanctioned event, Levine is finally the winner. After qualifying Monday for the Korn Ferry Tour event in Texas, the 38-year-old legend stormed from behind with a score of 63 on Sunday to take the title. After playing his last full-time senior tour in six years, Levine jumped all the way to 11th in points, putting him in line for a tour comeback with a guaranteed top-30 card at the end of the season. (Also: Shout out to Nocatee’s neighbor Brett Drewitt, who coughed up a five-shot lead but moved into second in points, all but closing his card.)

more more more: Elevated events on interesting tracks. Claustrophobic Harbor Town has always been asking different questions to players, which made it interesting for almost all of the tour’s stars to be present last week at RBC. Not surprisingly, the top of the leaderboard is a ball-shooting boom. There are other considerations at play, of course, but the Tour must prioritize its most unique venues with its new event-specific model. Pebble Beach and Colonial fit that bill and should be at the top of any wish list for 2024. For the tour’s minor majors, we need to see the best fields on the top courses.

tip of the cap: Jimmy Walker. Seven years into his late major season, Walker has hit a lead at the halfway point at Harbor Town in what could be his final season on tour, because this year he plays on the top 50 exemption money list. Walker couldn’t keep up with the top players over the weekend, but the performance should remind him of the good things that are still out there. With four months to go, he was now 125th in points.

The Hype Machine (and with good reason): Gordon Sargent. Despite missing the cut, the NCAA champ turned a lot of heads in his Masters Tournament debut, and he followed it up last week against kids his own age, going 66-64-66 for an eight-shot win at Mason Rudolph. Vandy’s second row is the real real deal.

Main season: Chevron Championship. After a normally segregated start to the LPGA season, the first major of the year has finally arrived, with a new date (no longer the week leading up to the Masters) and a new venue (Carlton Woods in Texas). It’s already four months into the new year, but this will be among the first times that Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda, Jin Young Ko and Athaya Theticul go head to head. Yes please.

Blown pick of the week: Cameron Young. Trading with new caddy Paul Tesori, Young came to Heritage (where he had been T-3 a year earlier) after a Match Play final loss and then T-7 in his second Masters appearance. Although he led the field in driving distance, it was nearly the last of his accuracy and he struggled once he got to the small green. That was a recipe for finishing outside the top 50. Sigh.