C.T. Pan raised his arms in a triumphant V and celebrated, not surrounded by cheering throngs of well-hydrated fans, but alone on the driving range at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Just minutes earlier, he had lipped out a birdie putt on the 18th green that certainly would have sealed his first PGA Tour victory. The miss left just enough of a crack through which one of the contenders still on the course might be able to slip, so Pan immediately headed to the range to prepare for a playoff that never came.

Patrick Cantlay’s tight lie in the rough on 18 kept him from taking a real run at the flag, and his chip for a tying birdie didn’t come close, and Shane Lowry couldn’t cash in a miracle eagle on the last hole, leaving Pan as the last man standing on another Sunday in which the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing champion came from well back to slip into a tartan jacket.

“It was very surreal, for sure,” Pan said. “I just didn’t envision my first win like this. I was ready for the playoff. It was so hard to convince myself that I actually had a shot at winning, so I just tried to get myself ready, get prepared for the worst outcome.”