Matt Fitzpatrick is a winner on the PGA Tour once again after edging out Scottie Scheffler in a playoff at the RBC Heritage.
History repeated itself for Fitzpatrick, who won the same tournament in 2023 via a playoff against Jordan Spieth.
The Englishman is now a four-time PGA Tour champion, having already won this season at the Valspar Championship.
This time around, however, he was forced to see off a challenge from the world number one and a hostile atmosphere at Harbour Town Golf Links.
But Fitzpatrick held his nerve on both counts to grind out an impressive victory, with his conduct in the immediate aftermath now drawing big praise from Ryan Lavner.
Speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex & Lav, he said: “He pretty clearly quick-played his pitch shot, after Scottie Scheffler nestled his up close. It seemed like he was trying to get ahead of it.
“I understand the argument that if this is a mainstream sport then this is the sort of thing you are going to have to deal with.
“But I guess I don’t really understand the antagonism that Fitz has faced over the past month or month and a half.
“He is not Ian Poulter, he is not Sergio Garcia, he is not some Ryder Cup villain. I wouldn’t even say he’s a Rory McIlroy in terms of being a polarising personality at all.
“Matt Fitzpatrick is a polite Englishman yet he has been hounded the past few times he has been in contention.
“I think it’s one thing to actively root for a rally to spice up what had been a pretty boring day to that point.
“I think it’s another thing altogether to cheer for another player’s downfall. I didn’t quite understand it, just like I did not understand it at The Players Championship as well.
“Good for him for politely putting a hand to his ear like ‘I can’t hear you’ after winning. I thought that was a great way to handle it.
“He was classy in victory just as he was a month ago at The Players Championship, which did not go his way, despite him getting booed when he arrived at the 72nd hole.”
Fitzpatrick did indeed show all of his class at TPC Sawgrass last month, when he narrowly missed out on The Players Championship title.
He lost to Cameron Young by one shot, but was not to be defeated at the RBC Heritage despite the clear challenges presented to him.
Sharing his take on the situation on Sunday, Rex Hoggard said: “I understand it because we are not that far removed from the Ryder Cup and things can be polarising in the age we live in right now.
“I agree 100%, if you were to pick up the 12 players from the European team you don’t like for whatever reason, Fitz is probably going to be 12th on that list.
“He is a hard-working guy, he comes from a wonderful family, so I guess I don’t understand that part because if you rewind a week Rory was the favourite at The Masters and will always probably be the favourite going forward, so it does not add up to me entirely.”
It would, of course, have been very easy for Fitzpatrick to topple under pressure, but he showed fantastic mental strength to get over the line against Scheffler.