And they’re off: First round play begins at RBC Heritage with superstar pairings
The RBC Heritage, South Carolina’s only Signature PGA Tour golf tournament, kicked off Thursday morning at Harbour Town Golf Links on stunningly green fairways lined with pines and palmetto trees before fans decked out in their spring best, including scores who wore hats, shorts and skirts in the same colors of the tartan jacket that the winner will wear come Sunday.
As of 12:30 p.m. Thursday, World No. 47 J.T. Poston was 7 under par and atop the leader board that will change multiple times over the next three days. Austin Eckroat (53) was second at 5 under with Eric Cole, Cameron Young and Si Woo Kim three shots back and tied for third.
The pairings committee had the fans in mind when they created a half dozen sets of player pairings to give spectators a glimpse of not one but two top-ranked players in the same group. The 10:30 a.m. pairing featured Masters champ and current world No.1 Scottie Scheffler playing alongside fellow Dallas-raised star Jordan Spieth.
The next pairing featured U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark and rising star Sahith Theegala. And keeping their foot on the pairings gas, the committee gave fans a third group to watch with fan favorite Max Homa and Tommy Fleetwood.
The fans who come for the afternoon were not expected to be disappointed with the 1:40 p.m. pairing of Rory McIlroy and the hottest rookie on tour, Ludvig Aberg, followed by Collin Morikawa and Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele.
Thursday marked the 56th playing of the Heritage. The weather and course conditions are a big improvement over last week’s Masters championship when rains delayed the Thursday start, and Friday afternoon’s near gale-force winds made the event one to remember for its challenges. At Hilton Head, conditions were near perfect, with the high temperature expected to climb above 80 degrees through Saturday while dipping to the mid-70s for Sunday’s final round.
Fans clapped and cheered at the first hole when California-born and Arizona resident Homa and England’s Tommy Fleetwood strode onto the first tee, then again for South Carolina’s own Kevin Kisner and Justin Thomas, the 2017 FedEx Cup champion.
Homa, who finished third at the Masters, shared a humorous story with reporters Wednesday when he explained that a fan recognized him at Chick-Fil-A, where he stopped to eat on his way out of town following the Augusta tournament.
“I was in the drive-thru by myself and I went to order, and the person taking the order told me that the woman in the row next to me had paid for whatever I was going to get,” Homa said. “She said that her son is three or four and I’m his favorite golfer, so it was pretty cool. I don’t know, those kinds of things, I still pinch myself.”
Then, when Homa arrived on Hilton Head, he said he went straight to Giuseppe’s, the beloved local pizza place.
“I never really eat pizza. Cheese doesn’t sit to well with me, but I’m all by myself this week, so I decided to splurge a little,” Homa said.
