Weather proving only barrier for golf No.1 Scheffler

World No.1 and Masters champion Scheffler holed a difficult pitch for eagle on his second hole on Sunday and turned the PGA Tour's RBC Heritage into another rout.

But a storm system with heavy rain stopped play for two and half hours, forcing a Monday finish.

Scheffler was 20 under and had a five-shot lead with just three holes to play when the final round resumes at 8am Monday.

US Open champion Wyndham Clark posted a closing six-under 65 and finished at 15-under 269 to be tied second on the leaderboard with Patrick Cantlay (one hole to complete), Sahith Theegala (three holes to play) and J.T. Poston (one hole to play).

Scheffler was on the verge of winning for the fourth time in five tournaments, the exception a runner-up finish in the Houston Open.

He was trying to become the first player since Bernhard Langer in 1985 to win the week after slipping on the Masters green jacket.

The dominance looked about the same, minus the flat, tree-lined terrain of Harbour Town and the peaceful vibe on this idyllic island a week after a high-pressure major.

Cantlay was tied for second at 15 under when he hit is approach to the collar of the 18th green. He chose to mark his ball and return on Monday to finish. Poston also was on the 18th hole and among the group at 15 under.

None had a chance of catching Scheffler unless the runaway world No.1 golfer made a series of blunders in the morning, and that looked improbable.

Scheffler has not made worse than par since a double bogey on the third hole Thursday.

That was put to test on his final hole. He hit his second shot on the par-5 15th into the water, had to drop behind a row of trees and then hit his shot with enough spin on the rain-softened green to feed down the slope to 12 feet.

He holed the par putt, lightly pumping his fist, showing more emotion than when he made his eagle on No. 2 or the two birdies that followed.

Australian Associated Press