'This is a special win' - Sheffield's Matt Fitzpatrick beats Jordan Spieth to win RBC Heritage at Hilton Head

Back then, Fitzpatrick hit an audacious shot from a fairway bunker on the 72nd hole to seal a first major triumph at The Country Club at Brookline, site of his famous US Amateur win nine years earlier.

On Sunday, he hit a nine-iron approach to a matter of inches at the third play-off hole to edge out the defending champion Jordan Spieth and win the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head.

The victory comes with a £3m first prize, more than he won at last year’s US Open and more than Jon Rahm collected seven days earlier for slipping on the green jacket at the Masters, in a clear sign of the PGA Tour’s response to the riches on offer on the rival LIV Tour.

But more than anything, victory at Hilton Head holds extra resonance for the 28-year-old Hallamshire Golf Club member, given he and his family used to visit the tournament as fans.

“I always remember coming here and saying to my dad, ‘is Tiger going to be in it here?’, and my dad is like, ‘no, Tiger is not playing this week’. I seem to remember that happening a lot,” said Fitzpatrick, who now has nine wins worldwide to his name.

“I was always looking for Tiger. I remember a few guys when I came here as a kid that I ended up seeing out there (on Tour), but to me, just winning this tournament because of the history that me and my family have here is what means the world to me. That’s why this is so special.”

The manner of the victory was as impressive as the way he won around Brookline last year. Hilton Head has always been a course that suits his eye with its narrow fairways, and he blazed into the lead on Saturday with a round of 63 before protecting it on the Sunday.

Spieth, who beat Patrick Cantlay on the first hole of a play-off 12 months ago, began the final day two shots behind Fitzpatrick but birdied four of the first six holes and took the outright lead when Fitzpatrick bogeyed the seventh.

Another birdie on the 13th briefly gave Spieth a two-shot lead, but he bogeyed the next and Fitzpatrick ended a run of seven straight pars with birdies on the 15th and 16th to move into a share of the lead. Neither player was able to birdie the 18th to win in regulation and Spieth lipped out for a winning birdie on the same hole in the play-off.

In the play-off, loud chants of ‘U-S-A’ could be heard after Fitzpatrick missed his birdie putt on the second extra hole, with American Spieth gesturing to fans to quieten down so the US Open champion could tap in for par.

Spieth – who played with Fitzpatrick the first two rounds of the Open at Muirfield in 2013 when both were making their debut - then missed his own birdie attempt before the Yorkshireman hit his stunning approach to the third extra hole which finished just inches from the cup.

“When you’re the underdog or the person that everyone is not rooting for, it’s obviously a little bit sweeter when you do win,” said Fitzpatrick.

“But I felt like I had a lot of support out there myself. Obviously the U-S-A and the Spieth chants were louder, but I definitely had support out here, and I felt that because of my connection here.”

Fitzpatrick becomes only the second Englishman after Nick Faldo to win at Harbour Town and moves to eighth in the world rankings. He partners brother Alex in the Zurich Classic in New Orleans this week .

The victory was also notable for Yorkshire caddie Billy Foster getting a Leeds United salute from a gracious Spieth in defeat.