When you come to watch the RBC Heritage, you never know what crazy feat you might see. But few expected to see what Justin Thomas accomplished during Thursday’s opening act.
After draining a dramatic 37-foot putt on the par-3 17th hole at Harbour Town Golf Links, Thomas made par at the last to complete a remarkable round of 61, tying the course record of 10-under par. More importantly, it gave him an early three-shot advantage over Russell Henley and defending champion Scottie Scheffler. Wyndham Clark sits alone in fourth after a solid 6-under 65, and five others lurk at 5-under par, including Bluffton resident Brian Campbell and Savannah native Brian Harman.
With the stellar 61, Thomas now shares the Harbour Town record with David Frost (1994) and Troy Merritt (2015). He nearly had it all to himself, but his bid for a 60 lipped out on a tricky 7-foot putt in front of the lighthouse at 18. But the Louisville native and former Alabama star couldn’t have drawn up a better start as he looks for his first tartan jacket.
“I just played really solid,” Thomas said. “I feel like I didn’t do anything crazy. I just drove the ball well, which is very, very important out here, and I felt like it was just one of those days I put the ball in a spot that I had a lot of good numbers.”
Taking advantage of ideal sunny, calm conditions in the late morning, Thomas raced out to a 6-under front nine. His putter was scorching hot on the par-3s, rolling in a pair of 30-foot putts for some critical early separation. After dropping a shot on the par-4 10th, Thomas impressively regained his form late, making five birdies on what might be the toughest six-hole stretch on the golf course. He punctuated his outing on the beautiful 17th hole, navigating a difficult left-to-right downhill putt perfectly for his 11th birdie of the day.
He has Scheffler by three after 18 holes, which could set up an exciting duel into the weekend, when Thomas expects Harbour Town to show its teeth.
“Especially if we continue to get weather like this and if these fairways get firm, the greens are already getting firm, it’s going to be everything we want by the end of the week,” Thomas added.
Scheffler thought there was more to be desired even after placing fourth at Augusta a week ago and raced out to a quick start with four birdies through the first six holes. He excelled with his approach shots, reaching the green in two shots on the par-5 fifth and sticking a beauty within two feet on the ninth for a tap-in birdie. It was the defining factor of Scheffler’s round, dominating the rest of the field in strokes gained via approach shots. He cooled off a bit on the back nine but finished bogey-free on the day to put himself in prime condition to challenge Thomas on Friday.
“I gave myself a lot of looks out there,” Scheffler said. “I think I maybe hit one errant tee ball and had to scramble but made a really good par there on 11. But outside of that, I felt like I kept the golf course in front of me for the most part. Yeah, overall I felt like I was really good with my ball-striking today and it helped me to a good score.”
A late hot-streak for Russell Henley drew him even with the 2024 champion, with the former Georgia Bulldog making birdies on four of his final five holes. He started his run on the treacherous par-3 14th, nailing a 37-footer from just inside the edge of the green. Henley’s stroke was masterful again on the final hole of the day, dropping just inside the left lip of the cup. It’s another excellent start for Henley this season, who already has four top-10 PGA Tour finishes in 2025, including a win a month ago at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
“I had a couple good breaks, but I putted great, had a couple good saves,” Henley remarked. The first hole I made a great save for par. Kind of a sloppy tee shot. If I hit it in trouble, I managed to make a par. Yeah, just going to try to clean up the driver just a little bit and just continue to putt like that would be great.”
It would be natural for Thomas to come back to field some on Friday — he’s nearly halfway to Webb Simpson’s tournament record of 22 under par, which was set on a crispy course in June 2020 — and there are plenty of stars lurking on the leaderboard who could work their way into contention going into the weekend.
And when the pros are out at Harbour Town on a weekend in April, anything can happen.
By Wes Kerr / LowcoSports.com
Wes Kerr is a graduate of Hilton Head Island HS and Davidson College. He reports on local sports for LowcoSports.com and is co-host and producer of the LowcoSports Lowdown and other Lowco Media productions.
