Carl Pettersson played a solid final round of 69 to win the RBC Heritage over the Harbour Town Golf Links at Hilton Head. Zach Johnson was five shots back in second place.
Pettersson began the last day with a one-shot advantage over Colt Knost but the Swede, now an American citizen, started fast with three birdies in the first five holes. At that point, his lead was four. That advantage was increased to five when Zach Johnson dropped a stroke to par at the 10th.
Johnson had one more look at the top of the leaderboard when he made a birdie at the 15th, before Pettersson made a bogey at the same hole. That meant the lead was just three. But Johnson failed to capitalise on the chance with a bogey of his own at the next hole. That left Pettersson in the clear and able to cruise home to victory, his fifth PGA Tour title.
"It was great," he said after the round. "I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself so I downplayed the whole thing. Getting off to a birdie start was key though."
Zach Johnson managed to stay ahead of Colt Knost to claim second place, Knost finished alone in third.
Luke Donald finished in a tie for 37th and so resigned his position as World Number 1. Rory McIlroy has taken over despite not swinging a club this week. The Englishman had needed to finish in the top eight to retain Number 1 spot.
"Now, my focus is on winning tournaments," he said.
RBC Heritage Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, South Carolina 12-15 Apr, purse $5,700,000, par 71
1 Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 65 66 69 270 $1,026,000 2 Zach Johnson (USA) 71 68 66 70 275 $615,600 3 Colt Knost (USA) 67 66 69 74 276 $387,600 T4 Billy Mayfair (USA) 72 70 67 69 278 $250,800 T4 Kevin Stadler (USA) 72 71 67 68 278 $250,800 T6 Matt Bettencourt (USA) 73 69 68 69 279 $198,075 T6 Boo Weekley (USA) 70 66 70 73 279 $198,075 T8 Harris English (USA) 68 68 73 71 280 $153,900 T8 Matt Every (USA) 68 72 73 67 280 $153,900 T8 Jim Furyk (USA) 68 75 67 70 280 $153,900 T8 Charley Hoffman (USA) 74 65 71 70 280 $153,900 T8 Kevin Na (USA) 70 68 69 73 280 $153,900
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
Where next? European Tour - Louis Oosthuizen wins Malaysian Open
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RBC Heritage Tee Times - Rounds One And TwoSome of the world's best players are competing at Harbour Town, with Rory McIlroy paired with Ludvig Aberg
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'I Think 100 Is My Finishing Line' - Angela Stanford Suggests Retirement Is Close Ahead Of 98th Consecutive MajorThe 2018 Evian Championship winner is playing her 98th consecutive Major at the Chevron Championship this week aged 46
