Hilton Head Island, SC – Justin Thomas finished almost three years without a victory on Sunday by doing a Birdie putt just outside 20 feet in playoffs at Harbor Town to beat Andrew Novak in the RBC heritage.
Thomas played without Bogey in dry and fast conditions for a 3-mine of 68, making a brirdie putt of 25 feet on the 16th which seemed to be the winner until Novak, who grew up in South Carolina, paired him with a large birdie for a 68.
Novak, who has had three good chances of winning in his last 14 tournaments, had an 8 -foot sipt with the 18th regulation hole that was left all the way.
In playoffs, Novak missed just 35 feet, preparing the ground for Thomas. The putt was so pure that Thomas dropped his putter before the ball falls, leaning and tightening the two arms to celebrate a victory that felt for a long time.
His previous victory was the PGA championship at Southern Hills in May 2022. His game slipped and he missed the Fedexcup playoffs for the first time in 2023, and he was left from the Presidents Cup team a year ago.
His game was back in order – he again cracked the top 10 – and only needed a victory to confirm that his game was back among the elite.
“I did not know how much I failed to win,” said Thomas on the 18th Green while he was standing next to his wife Jill and his 5 month old daughter Molly.
Thomas and Novak finished at 17-267, three shots away from anyone.
Novak was a finalist in Bermuda last fall. He was there in Torrey Pines in the agricultural insurance open. He was in the mixture of Valero Texas. And it seemed that it could be his moment to unravel until Thomas refuses to be refused.
“Winning is difficult. It’s really, really hard,” said Thomas with a shade of emotion in his voice. “I worked my buttocks and I stayed patient, I remained positive.”
He won for the 16th time on the PGA Tour, and for his memories, he never had a putt of length on the 18th hole to win by a shot.
“It was as fun as I thought,” said Thomas.
They moved away in the middle of the turn of a tight ranking – four -way equality at some point when they were joined by the leader of 54 holes if Woo Kim and Maverick McNealy.
Here is the price distribution for the $ 20 million handbag during the RBC Heritage signature event.
Daniel Berger closed with a 65 tied for the third with McNealy (70), Mackenzie Hughes (67) and Brian Harman (69).
The defending champion Scottie Scheffler even participated in the act, just briefly. He started four shots behind and was even for the turn through eight holes. But he fled three birdies in a section of four holes around the turn to shoot in both.
Scheffler lacked hole when he took a high -risk shot requiring an eagle to have a legitimate chance. This found water, leading to a double bogey. He still pulled 70 and equaled the eighth, his third consecutive top 10 while arguing in the last hour.
“I think I’m really close,” said Scheffler. “I feel like I have done a lot of things this week, just some of the important plans that I have not succeeded. From the outside of that, it was a fairly solid week. ”
Thomas won the tournament with a Birdie in the playoffs. He saved his chances towards the end of the nine before when he made four consecutive putts from the fifth hole – 7 feet for Birdie, 7 feet for the peer, 8 feet for the peer and just inside 15 feet for birdie on n ° 8, where he took the trees with an iron at 7 to give himself a chance.
Novak had trees of trees and fought, obtaining some good rebounds and a remarkable backup by a lie in sand in the middle of a forest on n ° 11.
It moves high enough in the world ranking – in the top 35 – that it should be a lock for the US Open and must now stay in the top 50 the following month for open.
“I’m not as frustrated as I thought.” Novak said. “I feel like I have done a lot of good things. I am quite proud to put myself in this position when I really felt like I don’t swing it so great this week.
“I thought I was a little more comfortable on the section than maybe I had been in the past. Justin just came out and won it. There is nothing that you can really do it. ”
