Pettersson Wins at Harbour Town As Zach Comes Second

Congratulations to Carl Pettersson, who shot a 2-under par 69 Sunday to hold onto his final round lead and win the RBC Heritage by five shots over runner-up Zach Johnson at the Harbour Town Golf Links at Hilton Head Island, SC.

Zach shot a 1-under 70 in the final round but was unable to close the gap with Pettersson.  Colt Knost, who trailed Pettersson by a stroke after three rounds, carded a final-round 2-over 74 and came in third, one shot behind Johnson.

It was the fifth PGA Tour victory for Pettersson, a native Swede who's now an American citizen and makes his home in Raleigh, NC after having played collegiate at North Carolina State.  He shot a 14-under total of 270 for the tournament on rounds of 70-65-66-69.  On Sunday, he birdied three of the first five holes (Nos. 1, 4, and 5) on the front nine and made 12 pars and a bogey on his remaining holes to seal the victory.

"Getting off to a birdie on No. 1 was great," Pettersson said.  "The whole front nine I played really good.  I felt like I was being greedy; I could have been a couple more under."  Pettersson led the field in both greens in regulation and putting.

Zach made four birdies and a bogey on the front nine, but gained no ground on Pettersson, who also shot 33.  Any chance he may have had to overtake Pettersson ended when the former Masters champion and John Deere Classic board member shot a 2-over 37 on the back nine, which included three bogeys and a birdie.

"I didn't hit it great, specifically on the back nine," Zach said afterward.  "A couple of wayward tee shots on the left - I'm not sure where they came from - but I'll figure it out.  All in all, it was a good week."

Both players share a real affection for Pete Dye's Harbour Town layout. 

"I love the golf course," Pettersson said.  "This has always been one of my favority golf courses.  It's fun to play.  You have to hit shots.  Even if you hit it into the trees, you can move it right to left, left to right, you can usually get it on the green or close to the green.  It's a shotmaker's golf course."

"It's a course where you've got to be very, very precise," Johnson said.  "You have to hit a true trajectory.  You have to control your spin.  You have to hit it right to left and left to right.  What the course does is separate the field, and the one that rises to the top is the one that plays the best.  There's no question in my mind Carl played the best..I love this place."

Pettersson's winner's check was $1,026,000 while the runner up will bank $615,600.

On Sunday morning, Zach presided at at sunrise religious service at the golf course before a reported gathering of some 200 people.