PGA TOUR

HILTON HEAD – Following a bogey-free (63) at the RBC Heritage, Harold Varner III holds the 54-hole lead for the second time of his PGA Tour career, but he is 0-for-1 to date in converting it to a win. Varner will attempt to become the eighth Black player to win on Tour.

Reigning FedEx Cup Champion and 36-hole leader Patrick Cantlay trails by one following a 1-under (70) while Shane Lowry and Erik van Rooyen, both T-2, could become the sixth international winner of the RBC Heritage since 2012.

Of 12 players at 8-under or better, Varner III (1st) and Tommy Fleetwood (T-9) are seeking their first Tour victory.

The last two RBC Heritage champions (Webb Simpson in 2020, Stewart Cink in 2021) each held the 54-hole lead/co-lead but prior to 2020, the event featured seven consecutive come-from-behind winners, with all trailing by at least two strokes going into the final round.

One week following a T-3 at The Masters Tournament, Shane Lowry (T-2) at (-10) is in search of his third Tour victory (2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, 2019 Open Championship). He has two Top-10 finishes in four starts at the RBC Heritage.

RBC Heritage Leaderboard | After 54 Holes

Harold Varner III 67-72-63—202 (-11)

Shane Lowry 66-72-65—203 (-10)

Erik van Rooyen 69-67-67—203 (-10)

Patrick Cantlay 66-67-70—203 (-10

The RBC Heritage | Third Round 

HILTON HEAD – Reigning FedEx Cup Champion Patrick Cantlay holds 36-hole lead/co-lead at the RBC Heritage and for the eighth time on Tour. He’s 1-for-7 in cashing in for the win to date.

Of 13 players at 5-under or better, Cameron Tringale, Cameron Young, and Mito Pereira are seeking their first PGA Tour win.

Following 15 bogey-free rounds Thursday, the most in any single round at Harbour Town Golf Links since 2003, only two were recorded in Round-2 on Friday, as Matthew NeSmith, and Cameron Tringale accomplished the task.

Defending champion and three-time RBC Heritage winner Stewart Cinkadvanced to the weekend for the 18th time in his 23rd appearance

Competing on a Major Medical Extension in his first PGA TOUR start since the 2019 Shriners Children’s Open, Morgan Hoffmann missed the cut by one stroke. Other notables to also miss by a stroke: Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and Kevin Kisner.

Brandon Hagy WD during the second round with a back injury.

RBC Heritage Leaderboard | After 36 Holes

Patrick Cantlay 66-67—133 (-9)

Robert Streb 68-67—135 (-7)

Cameron Tringale 69-67—136 (-6)

Aaron Wise 68-68—136 (-6)

Erik van Rooyen 69-67—136 (-6)

Cameron Young 63-73—136 (-6)

Joel Dahmen 69-67—136 (-6)

The RBC Heritage | Second Round | April 15

HILTON HEAD – PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young opened with a bogey-free (63), the lowest first-round score of his Tour career and one stroke shy of his low in any round. Young holds a two-stroke lead, the first lead/co-lead of his PGA Tour career after any round.

Joaquin Niemann has now been T-3 or better after 18 holes five times this season, the most of any player while defending champion and three-time RBC Heritage winner Stewart Cink is T-10. The last player to successfully defend title at the event was Boo Weekley in 2008. Both PGA Tour members from Chile are T-3 or better with Niemann in 2nd at (-6) and rookie Mito Pereira among a group of seven players T-3 at (-5).

Competing on a Major Medical Extension in his first PGA Tour start since the 2019 Shriners Children’s Open, Morgan Hoffmann carded an even-par (71), and is T-71.

Corey Conners is T-3 after posting a (-5) including a hole-in-one (No. 7, 187 yards), his fourth on Tour since the start of the 2019-20 season. He has the most aces on Tour in that stretch with second-most honors going to Martin Laird.

Conners’ holes-in-one have come at the 2020 BMW Championship, 2021 Masters Tournament, 2021 Wells Fargo Championship and 2022 RBC Heritage.

Shane Lowry (T-3) at (-5) has finished in the Top 15 in each of his last four stroke-play starts on TOUR (2nd/The Honda Classic, T-13/The PLAYERS, T-12/Valspar Championship, and T-3/Masters Tournament).

Webb Simpson finished his round with five straight birdies but is six shots off the lead – at a T-32 logjam at (69) after 18 holes.

Reigning FedEx Cup Champion Patrick Cantlay (T-3) at (-5) opened with a (66), snapping a streak of seven consecutive scores in the 70s. Cantlay opened the season with four consecutive Top-10s but has not finished T-10 or better in four starts since losing to Scottie Scheffler in a playoff at the WM Phoenix Open.

Zach Johnson WD during the first round due to illness.

 

RBC Heritage Leaderboard | After 18 Holes

Cameron Young 63 (-8)

Joaquin Niemann 65 (-6)

Seven players 66 (-5)

The RBC Heritage | First Round Preview – April 14

HILTON HEAD – Will we see yet another first-time winner at this week’s RBC Heritage join a growing list of PGA Tour players securing their first wins on the circuit?

Nine players have earned their first PGA Tour victory this season, including seven in the last 11 weeks. Most recently, J.J. Spaun won the Valero Texas Open, winning on Tour for the first time in his 147th career start.

Over the years, 14 players have earned their maiden PGA Tour victory at RBC Heritage, including: Hale Irwin (1971), Graham Marsh (1977), Doug Tewell (1980), Nick Faldo (1984), Davis Love III (1987), Glen Day (1999), Jose Coceres (2001), Peter Lonard (2005), Aaron Baddeley (2006), Boo Weekley (2007), Branden Grace (2016), Wesley Bryan (2017), Satoshi Kodaira (2018), and C.T. Pan (2019).

There are 97 PGA Tour past winners scheduled to compete this week at Harbor Town, tied for second-most in an event this season (109/The PLAYERS). highlighted by six players with double-digit wins on Tour: Dustin Johnson (24), Davis Love III (21), Jim Furyk (17), Justin Thomas (14), Zach Johnson (12) and Jordan Spieth (12).

Eight-time PGA Tour winner Stewart Cink is back in Hilton Head to defend his RBC Heritage title. With his win in 2021, Cink earned his third title at the RBC Heritage, 21 years and 2 days since his first victory in the event (2000).

Multiple Wins at RBC Heritage (* in the field this week):

Win, Player, Years won

5 Davis Love III* 1987, 1991, 1992, 1998, 2003

3 Stewart Cink* 2000, 2004, 2021

3 Hale Irwin 1971, 1973, 1994

From The Masters to the RBC is always an easy trip that stacks the talent pool at Harbor Town. This year, 42 of the 90 players in the Masters Tournament field made the trip from Augusta to Hilton Head, including seven players who finished in the Top-10 last week: Shane Lowry (T-3), Cameron Smith (T-3), Collin Morikawa (5th), Corey Conners (T-6), Justin Thomas(T-8), Sungjae Im (T-8), Charl Schwartzel (T-10).

RBC Heritage | Tournament Facts;

COURSE: Harbor Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, South Carolina

ARCHITECT: Pete Dye

YARDS/PAR: 7,191 yards/Par 71

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $8,000,000/$1,440,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Stewart Cink

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @RBC_Heritage