RBC Heritage Day four: Donald denied by Bryan

Leading final positions

-13 Wesley Bryan
-12 Luke Donald
-11 Ollie Schniederjans, Patrick Cantlay, William McGirt 

Day four report

Luke Donald finished second at the RBC Heritage for the fifth time in nine years as Wesley Bryan captured his first PGA Tour title at Harbour Town Golf Links.

England's Donald, who has also finished third on two occasions in this event, started the final round four shots behind leader Jason Dufner.

The former world number one, now 96th in the rankings after five years without a victory on a major tour, looked to have blown any chance of winning when he drove out of bounds on the second and ran up a double bogey.

However, he proceeded to card five birdies - including a chip-in from the bunker at the 11th - to move into a share of the lead.

Bryan holed a birdie putt from inside five feet at the 15th to go ahead once more, and Donald could not find a gain down the closing stretch to force a play-off; another errant drive on the par-five 15th forced him to chip out sideways and his 35-footer at the last missed.

American Bryan had six birdies and two bogeys in a closing 67 to finish on 13 under, with Donald a shot further back after a round of 68.

"I'm going to remember this for a long time," said Bryan. "I feel like I was missing greens and scrambling but still managed to make a good score of it.

"Looking at the leaderboard and knowing I just needed to make a two-putt on the last was pretty special."

Patrick Cantlay, William McGirt and Ollie Schneiderjans were tied for third on 11 under, but former US PGA champion Dufner had a day to forget as he plummeted down the leaderboard with a closing 76.

Final collated scores & totals
(USA unless stated, par 71)

271 Wesley Bryan 69 67 68 67
272 Luke Donald (Eng) 65 67 72 68
273 Ollie Schniederjans 68 68 69 68, Patrick Cantlay 70 66 70 67, William McGirt 68 68 68 69
274 Graham De Laet (Can) 65 67 69 73, Brian Gay 68 70 69 67, J.J. Spaun 67 72 66 69
275 Bud Cauley 63 72 71 69, Brian Harman 71 70 66 68
276 Jason Dufner 68 67 65 76, Ryan Palmer 68 73 67 68, Sung Kang (Kor) 69 69 70 68, Branden Grace (Rsa) 68 71 69 68, Sam Saunders 65 70 74 67, Matt Kuchar 68 71 73 64, Webb Simpson 66 68 68 74, Ian Poulter (Eng) 66 68 69 73, Kevin Kisner 72 64 66 74, Brandt Snedeker 69 68 71 68, Russell Knox (Sco) 70 66 72 68
277 Billy Hurley III 69 71 66 71, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 67 71 70 69, Adam Hadwin (Can) 71 66 71 69, Nick Taylor (Can) 69 66 70 72
278 Rod Pampling (Aus) 69 72 69 68, Russell Henley 66 73 71 68, Blayne Barber 71 68 69 70
279 Cameron Smith (Aus) 67 70 71 71, Graeme McDowell (Nirl) 72 68 69 70, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng) 69 68 68 74
280 Rafael Campos 68 70 70 72, Chad Campbell 69 69 69 73, Derek Fathauer 72 67 70 71, Lucas Glover 72 68 71 69, Patton Kizzire 72 66 70 72, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 68 69 74 69, Zac Blair 70 70 70 70
281 Danny Lee (Nzl) 66 72 73 70, Kevin Na 70 69 73 69, Johnson Wagner 70 69 70 72, Jason Bohn 67 72 70 72, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 67 70 72 72
282 Peter Malnati 71 69 67 75, Alex Cejka (Ger) 71 66 73 72, Fabian Gomez (Arg) 74 67 70 71, Mark Anderson 69 70 72 71, Jonas Blixt (Swe) 69 70 72 71, Keegan Bradley 75 66 68 73, Shane Lowry (Irl) 66 75 69 72, Marc Leishman (Aus) 68 69 74 71, Boo Weekley 72 69 69 72, Cheng-Tsung Pan (Tai) 71 69 73 69, Bryce Molder 73 67 70 72, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 67 70 75 70
283 Brian Stuard 69 71 71 72, Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa) 70 70 69 74, Charles Howell III 70 70 71 72
284 Grayson Murray 67 73 71 73, Harold Varner III 67 72 70 75, Kyle Stanley 71 70 71 72, David Hearn (Can) 70 70 69 75, Daniel Summerhays 73 66 70 75
285 Andrew Johnston (Eng) 68 71 70 76, Vaughn Taylor 71 70 73 71, Ryan Blaum 71 69 70 75, Martin Laird (Sco) 69 70 71 75, Kyung Ju Choi (Kor) 69 71 70 75
286 Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 70 71 72 73
287 Trey Mullinax 73 68 73 73, Steve Marino 69 71 72 75, Ben Crane 66 74 72 75, Pat Perez 68 67 81 71
291 Mark Hubbard 70 71 74 76 

Day three report

Jason Dufner took over at the top of the RBC Heritage leaderboard as England's Luke Donald fell off the pace during the third round at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Donald has recorded six top-threes in his last eight appearances at the venue, and held a share of the halfway lead alongside Canada's Graham DeLaet on 10 under par.

However, the former world number one, now down at 96th in the rankings after five years without victory on a major tour, made two bogeys against a solitary birdie in a third round 72.

That left him four off the pace in a share of sixth as Dufner surged into first place with a brilliant 65.

The former US PGA Championship winner twice made eagles on the front nine - from 14 feet on the second and a hole-out from the fairway on the fifth - and although there were three bogeys on his card they were offset by five birdies.

That left Dufner 13 under par, one ahead of DeLaet, who signed for a two under 69.

"It was a little bit of a roller coaster but it was good to pick up a couple of eagles," Dufner told the PGA Tour website.

"The back nine was really clean, I was really happy with how I played on the back nine - hopefully that will bode well for tomorrow's final round."

Former US Open champion Webb Simpson and American Kevin Kisner are a shot further back in third, with Donald's former Ryder Cup team-mate Ian Poulter fifth on 10 under.

Poulter had put himself in contention with four birdies on the front nine but dropped three shots over the next two holes, including a double-bogey on the 10th after his tee shot found water, before a birdie from 40 feet on the 14th completed his scoring.

Round three leaders

-13 Jason Dufner
-12 Graham De Laet
-11 Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson
-10 Ian Poulter

Day two report

Luke Donald continued his impressive form over the Harbour Town Golf Links as a second round 67 gave him a share of the halfway lead at the RBC Heritage.

The Englishman has recorded six top-threes in his last eight appearances at the venue, and has a chance to top that run with victory this week after joining Canada's Graham DeLaet on 10 under par.

Former world number one Donald, now down at 96th in the rankings after five years without victory on a major tour, carded five birdies against a single bogey on Friday.

A gain from seven feet on the fourth sparked a hat-trick of gains as the 39-year-old reached the turn in 33.

Donald bogeyed the 11th after leaking his drive into rough down the right, but bounced straight back with an 11-footer on the next and chipped in at the last for a closing gain.

"I've always felt like I pitch the ball really well round here, the grass lends itself to being able to create some spin and I needed it down there - I didn't have much green to work with - it just came off perfectly with a little side spin into the cup," he said of his birdie on 18.

"I've hit a few poor drives today and I need to work on that. It was a little bit more stressful than I would have liked but a great short game bailed me out.

"I need to tighten up the driving a little bit but the rest of the game feels pretty solid so I'm pretty excited about that and I've given myself another chance which is great.

"From past experience you can't sit on your laurels and just make pars, you're going to have to go out there and make some birdies so I'm going to have to be aggressive and try and post another good solid round tomorrow."

DeLaet had three birdies against a single bogey, as well as holing his approach from 108 yards to the ninth for eagle in a round of 67.

Donald's Ryder Cup team-mate Ian Poulter is tied with former US Open winner Webb Simpson in a share of third on eight under after both carded second rounds of 68.

Scotland's Russell Knox also sits just inside the top 10 on six under.

Round two leaders

-10 Graham DeLaet, Luke Donald
-8 Ian Poulter, Webb Simpson
-7 Bud Cauley, Pat Perez, Jason Dufner, Sam Saunders, Nick Taylor

The following players missed the halfway cut:

141 Vaughn Taylor 71 70, Kyle Stanley 71 70, Ryan Palmer 68 73, Mark Hubbard 70 71, Brian Harman 71 70, Fabian Gomez (Arg) 74 67, Keegan Bradley 75 66, Trey Mullinax 73 68,Shane Lowry (Irl) 66 75, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 70 71, Rod Pampling (Aus) 69 72, Boo Weekley 72 69

142 Luke List 75 67, Chris Kirk 70 72, Robert Garrigus 72 70, John Senden (Aus) 72 70, D.A. Points 71 71, Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 72, Hunter Mahan 68 74, Freddie Jacobson (Swe) 72 70, Jim Furyk 68 74, Camilo Villegas (Col) 70 72, John Huh 70 72

143 Scott Brown 72 71, Jason Kokrak 68 75, Shawn Stefani 69 74, Davis Love III 72 71, Steven Bowditch (Aus) 71 72, Stewart Cink 70 73, David Lingmerth (Swe) 72 71, Andrew Loupe 71 72, Michael Thompson 74 69, Roberto Castro 71 72, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 69 74, Tommy Gainey 69 74

144 Greg Chalmers (Aus) 72 72, Brett Stegmaier 72 72, Robert Streb 76 68, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 71 73, Ernie Els (Rsa) 70 74

Kyle Reifers 70 74, James Hahn 72 72, Michael Kim 71 73, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 74 70

145 Spencer Levin 68 77, Ricky Barnes 73 72, J.J. Henry 73 72, Troy Merritt 71 74, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 73 72

146 Charley Hoffman 73 73, John Peterson 72 74, Chez Reavie 74 72, Ben Martin 71 75, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 70 76, Whee Kim (Kor) 69 77, Chad Collins 76 70, Ken Duke 75 71, Morgan Hoffmann 74 72, Bryson De Chambeau 73 73

147 Bill Haas 71 76, Kelly Kraft 72 75, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 73 74, Dominic Bozzelli 72 75, Harris English 74 73

148 Billy Horschel 70 78

149 Danny Willett (Eng) 71 78

154 Jim Herman 77 77

156 Cheng Jin (a) (Chn) 78 78

157 Brooks Blackburn 81 76

Day one report

Luke Donald continued his love affair with Harbour Town Golf Links as he posted an opening 65 to sit in a share of second place after the first round of the RBC Heritage. 

The Englishman has recorded six top-threes in his last eight appearances at the venue and he got off to a strong start on Thursday, carding an eagle, five birdies and a single bogey to get to six under par.

Bud Cauley holds a two-shot lead after producing a flawless 63 to reach eight under, with Donald, American Sam Saunders and Canadian Graham DeLaet in a tie for second.

Donald's fellow Englishman Ian Poulter was among the group a shot further back on five under alongside Irishman Shane Lowry, Webb Simpson, Danny Lee, Russell Henley and Ben Crane.

Beginning his round at the 10th tee on Thursday morning, former world number one Donald rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt at his first hole before dropping his only shot of the day at the next.

After tapping in for another birdie at the 12th, Donald made back-to-back gains at the 17th and 18th to get to three under par at the turn.

The 39-year-old jumped to the top of the pile when he sank his eagle putt at the second after sending his approach to three feet.

Donald then picked up another shot at the fifth to move to six under before safely parring the final four holes to set the early clubhouse target.

In an interview screened on the PGA Tour's website, Donald said: "This place has been kind to me. It's nice to get off to a great start again.

"It's always nice to come back to places you feel comfortable and you've had success. Obviously I've had a lot of success here in the last eight years - I've done everything but win.

"It would be nice to give myself another chance to try and finally get over that hurdle."

Cauley reached the turn in 32 after making gains at the first, second, fifth and ninth.

The 27-year-old picked up another shot at the 14th before closing his round with three straight gains to finish the day on eight under.

DeLaet, meanwhile, made four birdies on his front nine before adding two further gains at the second and fourth, while Saunders birdied his last three holes to join Donald in a share of second.

Day one leaders 

-8 Bud Cauley
-6 Graham De Laet, Sam Saunders, Luke Donald
-5 Danny Lee, Ben Crane, Russell Henley, Shane Lowry, Ian Poulter, Webb Simpson