Mother Nature the only one who kept Scottie Scheffler from winning the RBC Heritage

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[PHOTO: Jared C. Tilton]

The breaking news from Hilton Head in South Carolina is that Scottie Scheffler did not win the RBC Heritage today, and he was defeated – at least temporarily – by the only opponent who had a chance: Mother Nature.

In the midst of his latest winning campaign, the world No.1 was stopped by a timely intervention from heavy rain and nearby lightning, which halted play at 4:28pm at Harbour Town Golf Links. The players resumed at 7pm, but it didn’t leave enough daylight to finish the final round. When play stopped around 7:50pm, Scheffler held a five-shot lead from second place, and still had three holes to finish.

It was another dominant performance for the man who now seems increasingly like the best thing we’ve seen in men’s golf since Tiger Woods, but perhaps the signature moment of his day came at the very end. Already four-under for the round and cruising to a win in gathering darkness, Scheffler uncharacteristically pulled his second shot on the par-5 15th into the water. Facing down his fourth after the drop, with threes blocking his path to the hole, he hit a sweeping draw out to the right, brought it back onto the green, and let the sidespin carry the ball around the bowl of the green, as if on a velodrome, until it came to rest 11 feet from the hole. It was a piece of crepuscular magic… and yes, obviously he made the par putt:

You’d think at this point that the Masters champion might be slightly drained from his tour of excellence of the past two months, but it was evident from the ferocity of his fist pump how much the par save meant to him.

Five shots behind, Wyndham Clark forged his way into a four-way tie for second with a 65, and he’s joined by Patrick Cantlay, J.T. Poston, and Sahith Theegala. Cantlay and Poston made it to the 18th green before they opted to mark their balls and return in the morning, while Theegala, like Scheffler, will start on the 16th. Justin Thomas finished a shot behind them at 14-under with a 65, and Ludvig Aberg and Patrick Rodgers, also at 14-under, will finish on Monday (US time). Sepp Straka, paired with Scheffler, struggled to be two-over for the round through 15 holes.

So, yes, Mother Nature put the Scheffler victory parade on hold for the moment. But it can’t last forever: play resumes Monday at 8am (10pm tonight, AEST).