Scottie Scheffler, wearing a bigger than his own RBC Heritage tartan jacket and earplugs to protect his hearing, made a perfect swing. His golf ball left the 18th fairway and headed into Calibogue Sound right as the cannon fired, thus completing one of the most unique opening ceremonies on the PGA Tour.
RBC Heritage begins w Scottie Scheffler and cannon pic.twitter.com/FweuD1ZFQe
— Gary VanSickle (@GaryVanSickle) April 15, 2025
“The opening ceremony was fun. It's a cool tradition, definitely unique to this one,” Scheffler said afterward. “We have special memories here from last year's tournament.”
Indeed, he does because not only did he win the RBC Heritage a year ago, but he'd also won The Masters the week before. Regardless, most players who come to Hilton Head enjoy the quieter atmosphere after a week of tension at Augusta that's so tough it needs a tenderizer.
“This golf course is much more about control and putting your ball in the right spots and staying out of the trouble,” he explained, comparing Harbour Town Golf Links to Augusta National. “The fairways here are much smaller than Augusta and a flatter golf course overall. A bit of a different test, but definitely still a good test.”
Scheffler noted that it’s an easy week for most golfers compared to The Masters. Even if not spending the week in a boat in the marina, which past champs Davis Love III and Greg Norman have done, it’s particularly easy to get to Harbour Town for players, most of whom rent a house close to the course. After all, the island is less than five miles wide and less than 12 miles long.
“This is the third year I've played this tournament, and we have some good memories here,” Scheffler said adding that with the addition of Ben to their family, there’s an extra dimension to activities. “Took him (Ben) for a walk on the beach last night. We're getting to really enjoy being in the community here, and it's been a lot of fun.”
This week, many players were asked about the new regulations that allow players or their caddies to use distance measuring devices, and Scheffler was no exception. He had an interesting answer.
“Is it going to help pace of play? Maybe a few minutes. Will it be anything significant? No. This tournament, what affects the pace of play is walking the golf course,” he insisted. “I think we're playing twosomes all week, so it will go from a five-hour round to maybe four hours or less.”
Scheffler suggested that what people really want is exciting golf, not necessarily shorter golf. Playing in twosomes versus threesomes makes the rounds go faster, but not as many players will fit on the course.
“Let's say if we do all these changes and we save 20 minutes off of a round of golf,” he began. “Is somebody going to sit down on the couch on Sunday and go, well, I didn't have five hours to watch a round of golf, but I've got four hours and 40 minutes. Now I'm in.”
We'll have to wait and see how the six-week experiment with rangefinders plays out, but Scheffler certainly gave fans at Harbour Town some excitement on Thursday during his first round, carding seven birdies en route to a bogey-free round of 64.