Sabbatini takes early lead at RBC Heritage
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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Rory Sabbatini shot a 7-under 64 for his lowest round ever at Harbour Town Golf Links and a twostroke lead Thursday in the RBC Heritage, with topranked Dustin Johnson five shots behind.
The talk leading up to the tournament was of the return of Johnson, the South Carolina native who grew up about three hours northwest of here, yet had not played in the Palmetto State’s lone PGA Tour stop since 2009. But it was Sabbatini who quickly moved to the top in perfect, windless conditions on what’s typically one of the most wind-swept layouts of the year.
Matt Kuchar, Billy Horschel, Chesson Hadley and John Huh shot 66s. Johnson had a run of four straight birdies in the middle of his round, but ended up with a 69. He was tied for 20th.
Sabbatini, starting on No. 10, birdied four holes on his front nine. He made a 52-foot putt on the par-3 14th and put his approach on No. 18 — the Pete Dye course’s signature hole with the lighthouse in the backdrop — to about 7 feet to set up another birdie.
“I think anytime you can birdie 18 on this golf course, it’s key because 18 is not a very forgiving hole,” he said.
Sabbatini, the last of whose six PGA Tour wins came in 2011, kept up the strong play with three more birdies coming in. He closed the round with consecutive birdies on his final two holes, the eighth and the ninth.
“All things considered, the course is probably as easy as I’ve ever seen it play,” Sabbatini said.
Sabbatini wasn’t he’d even tee it up sure after hurting his back Sunday while working on his stance. He received treatment every day since and decided to go as long as he could. Turns out it was all the way to the end. Sabbatini even got a bonus on his final tee box when he finally got his back to pop after stretching on No. 9 to make himself feel better. “And it kind of releases everything for the closure of the last hole,” he said.
Sabbatini surpassed his previous Harbour Town low of 66 in the 2009 final round when he tied for eighth, his best showing in eight previous appearances.
Johnson, ranked No. 1 for more than a year, won at Kapalua and has four other top 10s since January, including last week at the Masters where he tied for 10th in the year’s first major. He looked to continue his strong play at Harbour Town where he posted 10 birdies to one bogey during Wednesday’s pro-am.
Kuchar, ranked 21st in the world, stood at 1 under after his first 11 holes before birding four of his final seven to move into second.