Justin Thomas received for the sixteenth time on the PGA Tour, but it felt totally different on Sunday in Hilton Head Island, S.C.
“I didn’t notice how a lot I missed profitable,” he stated of the feelings that accompanied the aftermath of the profitable putt.
Thomas rolled in a birdie from 21 ft out on the primary playoff gap to win the RBC Heritage at Harbour City Golf Hyperlinks, claiming a match title for the primary time in almost three years.
Thomas and Andrew Novak, who was looking for his first victory on the PGA Tour, had been at 17-under 267 by 72 holes. Novak was within the final pairing for the third time this season however couldn’t discover a approach to win.
Thomas, a two-time main champion, hadn’t received since capturing the 2022 PGA Championship.
“Profitable is tough. It’s actually, actually laborious,” Thomas stated. “I’ve labored my butt off, stayed affected person, stayed constructive.”
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Thomas shot 3-under 68, ending his bogey-free spherical with three consecutive pars. Novak was off the mark on a would-be profitable 8-foot birdie putt on the final gap of regulation and likewise had 68 for the spherical.
“I simply missed on the reads there,” he stated.
Thomas has been in playoffs seven instances on the tour, capturing victories in 5 of these.
So it was one other shut name for Novak.
“Not a lot so far as feelings,” he stated. “I’m not as pissed off as I assumed I might be. I really feel like I did lots of good issues. … I must go on the market and get a win sooner or later, however all of those finishes are nice.”
Thomas led after the primary and second rounds. He went forward on the fifteenth gap Sunday with a 24 1/2-foot birdie putt, however Novak countered with a birdie from about 17 ft away on the sixteenth.
“I’m fairly happy with placing myself in that place once I actually felt like I wasn’t swinging it that nice this week,” Novak stated. “The truth that I used to be capable of scrap out virtually a win with probably not swinging my finest.”
Daniel Berger (65 on Sunday), Brian Harman (69), Maverick McNealy (70) and Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes (67) tied for third place at 14 beneath. England’s Tommy Fleetwood (70) was seventh at 13 beneath.
“Simply missed a pair swings on the again 9,” Harman stated. “If I had 4 or 5 swings again over the match, I feel I might have been proper there.”
Hughes stated the top-10 final result might be useful within the huge image.
“To have a end result like this and to do it once I know the factors are going to be amplified (within the tour’s revamped system), it’s huge for me,” Hughes stated.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler had climbed the leaderboard with three birdies in a five-hole stretch till a double-bogey 7 on the fifteenth gap and a bogey on No. 17 doomed his spherical. He shot 70, tying for eighth place with Russell Henley (70) and third-round chief Si Woo Kim of South Korea (74) at 12 beneath.
Scheffler, the reigning world No. 1 golfer, stays with no championship this 12 months.
“I simply wanted a number of extra photographs on the market, which was positively there for the taking for me,” Scheffler stated. “I simply didn’t fairly benefit from them.”
Kim was 2 over by 12 holes and his troubles continued with a double-bogey 5 on No. 14.
Bud Cauley’s 64 marked the most effective rating of the ultimate spherical. That put him at 7 beneath and tied for thirty second place.