Hilton Head Island, SC – Justin Thomas made a pair of birdies on his crisp and nine -free back at Harbor Town to save a 2 -mes of 69 for a two -stroke advance at the RBC Heritage, his first advance of 36 holes in more than four years.
Thomas has been without victory since the PGA 2022 championship and is tired of the subject. He also knows that there is a long way to go on a course that requires precision while allowing a low score.
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If Woo Kim had one of these low scores, a fellow start that did it at 8 under 12 holes until he was satisfied with a 64. He had two strokes behind, with Russell Henley (68).
Six players were less than four head shots, a group that includes title champion Scottie Scheffler, who did not have much right in his 70 round. On the rating pins, he was out of position. He was in the fairway for hidden pins. There were not so many steep opportunities, but he is still right in the mixture.
Andrew Novak (65) and Tommy Fleetwood (66) were three late.
He promised himself as a big open weekend during a tournament where no one seems to insist too much to come a week after the masters. Of course, everyone. The mystery on Friday was the four golf handles – the well broke in half – outside the score trailer.
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Thomas was much better, especially the end of the Tour. One of these difficult pins was 13, just to the right of a steep bunker framed by railway ties. He beautifully played a corner before green and put on a 15 -foot putt.
Much more impressive was the 15th par-5, where Thomas had 287 yards with an imposing tree that always seems to be bothering. He prefers to strike a 5 wood for a little more altitude. He hammered a wood at 3 on green to install a two -stroke birdie, and finished with three pars.
The fire on No. 15 also illustrated the adjustments he makes with a filling shopping cart, Joe Greiner, while his regular minister to Looper Matt recalls a back injury.
“He always gets used to it as I,” said Thomas. “We were talking about the photo and trying to hit him directly with green. The tree was a bit on the way. I said to myself: “I feel like it’s a good number of 3 woods. And he said to himself: “Yeah.”
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“Then, after hitting, he said,” I’m so happy that you said that because I thought it was a perfect cutting wood, but I didn’t want to say that. These are some of the funny adjustments and things we work with. »»
It does not look like a vacation working for Kim because he missed the Masters for the first time since 2016, his year recruited on the PGA Tour.
“I became so frustrated last week by watching Masters, but in one way or another, I have to move on. So I’m trying to focus this week,” Kim said.
He drew everyone’s attention with his departure.
The moment of signature was its 3 wood of 275 yards which drove at 5 feet for Eagle on the fifth hole by 5. And then he fled four consecutive stews around the turn starting with the short ninth by 4, three of the putts inside 8 feet and a 15 feet on the 11th.
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He could not support the momentum, but enters the final group with Thomas on the weekend.
Scheffler was slowed down by a mud ball on the fifth par-5 which put it out of position, and a three strokes which gave it a Bogey; And hit a tree on the eighth that led to another Bogey. He finished with nine pars and a small perspective.
“Just little things like that that can turn your day in the wrong direction,” he said. “I fought strong enough today and I hung on to have four on weekends.”
The Scheffler season was delayed by one month by his hand injury and he is still looking for his first victory. Thomas last time won Southern Hills in the PGA 2022 championship, although his game has turned enough in the right direction to n ° 8 in the world ranking.
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“The majority of this has just squeezed and trying too hard,” he said about his drought. “I have almost the impression of being somehow passed the point where, fortunately, you have all stopped asking me – which is good – but I would also prefer to finish it.
“Something that I feel like I’ve done so well there for a few years is that I just let the tournaments come to me and I just trusted my abilities,” he said. “It’s really my key this week, it’s just trying to really trust my game and getting involved in what I do.”
