2026 RBC Heritage leaderboard: Scottie Scheffler applies pressure to Matt Fitzpatrick in Round 3

Scheffler's third round performance put him in second alone, three shots behind Fitzpatrick

Scottie Scheffler came into Saturday seven shots off Matt Fitzpatrick's lead after the Englishman tore up the first two rounds at Harbour Town while playing with the World No. 1. 

On Sunday, Fitzpatrick will be a bit less excited to see Scheffler back alongside him for the final round's final pairing. Scheffler fired one of the low rounds of Saturday with a 7-under 64 to climb into second on the leaderboard. 

Scheffler took full advantage of having a tee time more than an hour before Fitzpatrick's, charging hard up the leaderboard with five birdies in his first six holes to trim the deficit to just two shots before Fitzpatrick even stepped on the first tee. 

"You can't ask for much of a better start than that," Scheffler said after his round. "Came out, nice birdie on the first, good birdie on the second. Kind of stole one on 4, and two good birdies there on 5 and 6." 

While Scheffler finally blinked with his lone bogey of the day on No. 7, a birdie on the 9th saw him make the turn with a share of the lead after going out in 31 and Fitzpatrick falling back with two early bogeys. 

As the wind picked up on Hilton Head Island, Scheffler cooled off a touch on the back nine with six straight pars before closing strong with two birdies in his final three holes to claim the clubhouse lead at 14 under. 

Fitzpatrick woke up on his back nine and was able to re-assert control with a birdie-birdie-eagle stretch on Nos. 13-15 to open up a three-shot lead on Scheffler and the rest of the field. While Fitzpatrick now has a larger lead than he did on Friday night, when he had Viktor Hovland one shot behind him, his position feels equally precarious because of the man now closest in his rearview mirror. 

We saw a week ago what Scheffler can do on the weekend when he gets in a groove, as he nearly came back to catch Rory McIlroy at the Masters after spotting him a 12-shot lead on Friday. This week, his deficit was only seven entering the weekend and despite great scoring conditions for everyone on Saturday, he's pulled within three of the lead entering the final round. 

What makes Scheffler so dangerous is it never seems like he has to try and do anything particularly out of the ordinary for him to produce a spectacular round. While other players have to take on more risk to get that kind of reward, Scheffler is capable of firing a round in the mid-60s without having to change his strategy all that much. 

That'll shift the pressure onto Fitzpatrick to strike the right balance between playing smart and staying aggressive enough to prevent Scheffler from steadily reeling him in. 

The leader 

1. Matt Fitzpatrick (-17)

It's odd when a three-shot lead feels this tenuous, but that's the case for Fitzpatrick because of the man chasing him. He should be buoyed by the quality of his play all week -- especially knowing he built much of his advantage this week in the first two days while playing alongside Scheffler. 

While we saw some evidence of nerves early in the third round, his back nine performance was telling of his confidence and form right now. He could've ejected right alongside Hovland after falling out of the lead entirely, but he regrouped and was able to throw some key counter-punches down the back nine to reclaim control heading into Sunday's final round. 

Other contenders 

2. Scottie Scheffler (-14)
T3. Si Woo Kim, Sepp Straka, Brian Harman (-13)
T6. Ludvig Aberg, Patrick Cantlay, Andrew Novak, Gary Woodland, Aldrich Potgieter (-12)
T11. Harris English, Viktor Hovland and three others (-11)

Had Fitzpatrick not hit the gas in the middle of his back nine, we would've had a much larger portion of the field in real contention heading into Sunday. However, given we saw Fitzpatrick play about as poorly as he can on the front nine and still barely gave up ground, it's hard to see him sliding back much on Sunday, even factoring in the nerves of trying to hold a lead in the final round. 

That, coupled with Scheffler sitting in second alone at 14 under, makes it hard to see anyone charging from that far down the leaderboard to pull off a shocking victory. Even with 63s out there, it's hard to envision anything less than 19 under winning this tournament. 

Scheffler is the biggest threat, but there are some players who can get hot and go low in the chase pack behind him. Si Woo Kim is bucking his head again on the first page of a big leaderboard, and if he can warm up the putter, he's capable of stringing together a lot of birdies. Åberg is also capable of going on a tear, as evidenced by his first round performance, and he'll need to take the offensive on Sunday to try and capture his first win of 2026 that's eluded him in frustrating fashion. 

2026 RBC Heritage updated odds, picks

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

• Matt Fitzpatrick (20/29)
• Scottie Scheffler (11/5)
• Si Woo Kim (18-1)
• Sepp Straka (22-1)
• Brian Harman (22-1)
• Ludvig Åberg (30-1)

Fitzpatrick's resolve on Saturday was impressive, but he'll face an even greater pressure on Sunday with Scheffler staring him down. I think we'll know quickly whether Fitzpatrick will be prepared to handle that, and it's hard not to want to take Scheffler even at short odds facing a three-shot deficit. Kim is the only other player I'm really intrigued by, just because he's only one back of Scheffler and could go out in front of the leaders and post a number.

[Apr 18, 2026 at 5:24 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

After eight holes on Saturday, Fitzpatrick looked like he might completely collapse after holding the 36-hole lead. He and Viktor Hovland were both struggling in the final pairing and the Englishman had given up a share of the lead before even making the turn. 

He would settle himself down from there, though, making three birdies and a chip-in eagle on his last seven holes to restore order at the top of the leaderboard and extend his lead to three shots over Scottie Scheffler. 

Fitzpatrick's gone 3 under in his last two holes without an official putt to open up that three-shot advantage, and he has three holes left in his third round to try and create an even bigger cushion over Scheffler. Given it looks like Scheffler will be in the final pairing with him on Sunday, the more room he has to breathe the better, especially with what we saw on Saturday from Scottie on the opening holes where he tore it up to quickly close the gap. 

[Apr 18, 2026 at 5:20 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

After dominating on Thursday to take the solo lead, Åberg couldn't get much going in his second round and began Saturday five shots off Matt Fitzpatrick's pace. While he's still had a loose swing here and there, the Sweded has moved back inside the top 3 on the leaderboard with his fifth birdie of the day on the 16th, reaching 13 unde. 

We've seen Åberg return to form over the past two months after a rocky start to the year, but he's still looking to polish off his first win of 2026. After a tough Sunday at The Players, Åberg has put himself in position to chase on Sunday rather than trying to protect a lead, and he'll hope playing with some aggression can get him to a third PGA Tour win in his young career. 

[Apr 18, 2026 at 4:57 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Surprise, surprise the world's best player is on top of the leaderboard. It took Scheffler all of nine holes to find himself in a share of the lead after starting the day seven shots back, and while he didn't stay quite as hot on the back nine at Harbour Town, he finished with a flourish with birdies on Nos. 16 and 18 -- including a dart on the last -- to get himself into the clubhouse lead at 14 under. 

It was a phenomenal round of golf from Scheffler, who made five birdies in his first six holes to announce his presence to the rest of the leaderboard, and was able to get his way around Harbour Town with eight birdies and just one bogey, even as the wind picked up to make things more challenging in the late afternoon. 

Now Scheffler will wait to find out if his clubhouse lead holds up for the rest of the day, as he's currently tied with Matt Fitzpatrick at the top with a number of players still on the course just a shot or two behind. No matter what happens the rest of Saturday afternoon, Scheffler has guaranteed himself a tee time in one of the final few pairings on Sunday and will be the favorite to win his second RBC Heritage title as he is fully back with elite ball-striking and seems very comfortable on the greens at Harbour Town after a few days of play. 

[Apr 18, 2026 at 4:24 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

After opening his back nine with six straight pars, Scheffler finally got another birdie putt to drop on the 16th to move to 13 under (-6 on his day) and tie Matt Fitzpatrick and Brian Harman for the lead. 

Scheffler will now play the par-3 17th and par-4 18th in hopes of adding another birdie to his card to take the clubhouse lead alone and see if Fitzpatrick or anyone else can match him the rest of the way this afternoon. 

[Apr 18, 2026 at 4:07 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Matt Fitzpatrick birdied the short 9th after driving the green and getting down in two to reclaim a share of the lead at 13 under, but he suddenly has an awful lot of company chasing him. There are 14 players at 11 under or better right now, meaning this tournament is suddenly wide open. 

We've seen the scoring pace come down over the last couple hours as the wind has become more of a factor, but there are still birdies to be had and an awful lot of players very much alive for the win and the $3.6 million check that comes with it. 

Among those in that group chasing the leaders are Scottie Scheffler (-12), Ludvig Åberg (-12) and Patrick Cantlay (-12), as some of the biggest names in the field are suddenly popping up on the first page of the leaderboard. 

[Apr 18, 2026 at 3:33 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

With birdies flying all around them, the final pairing's miserable Saturday continued with more trouble on the long par-3 7th. Both Fitzpatrick and Hovland dropped a shot on the 7th and for the first time all day, Fitzpatrick is no longer in at least a share of the lead. 

He is now 12 under, tied with Scottie Scheffler, Si Woo Kim and Harris English in second, one shot back of Brian Harman who is in the clubhouse after shooting a 63 and gets to watch as the leaders battle increasingly breezy conditions. The final pairing is in desperate need of some positive momentum, as they seem to be feeding off each other's struggles in the worst possible way to start this third round.