RBC Heritage: Justin Thomas claims first PGA Tour win since 2022 with dramatic play-off victory at Hilton Head | Golf News
Justin Thomas ended his three-year winless run on the PGA Tour with a dramatic play-off victory at the RBC Heritage.
Thomas fired a bogey-free 68 at Harbour Town Golf Links to finish on 17 under alongside Andrew Novak, who mixed five birdies with two bogeys and missed an eight-foot putt on the 72nd hole to claim his maiden PGA Tour title.
The players returned to the par-four 18th for the play-off, where Thomas drained a 20-foot birdie on the first extra hole to claim his 16th PGA Tour title and first since his 2022 PGA Championship success.
Daniel Berger posted a six-under 65 to jump into tied-third alongside Mackenzie Hughes, Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, with England’s Tommy Fleetwood a further shot back in seventh ahead of defending champion Scottie Scheffler.
How Thomas edged Hilton Head thriller
Novak, playing alongside overnight leader Si Woo Kim in the final group, got up and down from a greenside bunker to birdie the par-five second but then missed from four feet to save par at the next.
Kim also bogeyed the third to briefly make it a four-way tie at the top of a congested leaderboard, only for Thomas and McNealy to edge ahead by taking advantage of the par-five 15th.
Thomas started the final round a shot behind Si Woo Kim
Novak posted back-to-back birdies from the fifth to edge ahead but bogeyed the par-three seventh after finding sand off the tee, as Thomas produced a remarkable approach from the rough at the eighth to set up a 12-foot birdie to move into the solo lead on 16 under.
McNealy missed a five-foot birdie chance at the driveable ninth to pull level with Thomas, who also closed out his front nine with a par, as Novak took advantage of that hole to reach the turn tied for the lead.
Andrew Novak was playing in the final group for the third time this season on the PGA Tour
Novak recovered from a wayward tee shot at the 11th to drain a 15-foot putt to save par and stay tied with the lead, while Scheffler closed within two until he double-bogeyed the par-five 15th and bogeyed the 17th.
Harman also made a back-nine charge until he also found the water at the 15th, where Thomas ended a run of pars to by holing a 25-foot birdie to move one ahead with three holes to play.
Novak responded with a brilliant birdie from 15 feet at the 16th and had a glorious opportunity to win the tournament in regulation, having seen Thomas set the clubhouse target with three pars, only to miss an eight-foot birdie chance for victory at the par-four last.
Both players found the green in regulation on the first play-off hole, where Novak was unable to make his outside birdie chance from 35 feet and watched Thomas drain his effort to spark wild celebrations on the 18th green.
Thomas savours challenging win
Justin Thomas: “It’s so hard to force the issue on a course like this. It’s so fast and so much fun to play. I’m really proud of myself.
“I’ve never made a putt to win a tournament before, of length. Been fortunate to have a lot of tap-ins but that was pretty cool. It wasn’t as fun as much as I thought it would be.”
Thomas carded rounds of 61, 69, 69 and 68 before claiming play-off victory
Andrew Novak: “I’m not as frustrated as I thought I would be. I feel like I did a lot of good things. I’m pretty proud of putting myself in that position when I really felt like I wasn’t swinging it that great this week, the fact that I was able to scrap out almost a win with not really swinging my best.
“I hit a few good ones down the stretch, which was cool, because with the pressure on it usually gets tougher, and I was still able to pull off some shots. I was happy to see that. I thought I was a little more comfortable down the stretch than maybe I have been in the past.”
Andrew Novak is set to move inside the world’s top 50 for the first time
What’s next?
Rory McIlroy returns to action for the first time since completing the career Grand Slam at The Masters, with the world No 2 partnering Shane Lowry for their Zurich Classic of New Orleans title defence.
The PGA Tour team event takes place at TPC Louisiana, with early coverage live on Thursday from 12.30pm on Sky Sports Golf ahead of full coverage from 8pm. Get Sky Sports or stream with NOW.
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