Justin Thomas had the time of his life at Harbour Town Golf Links on Thursday, carving up Pete and Alice Dye’s masterpiece to the tune of a course record-tying round of 10-under-par 61.
And then, as it often does, Harbour Town showed its teeth.
Thomas still tops the field after 36 holes at the RBC Heritage presented by Boeing, but he came back to Earth with a respectable 2-under 69 Friday to take a two-shot lead into the weekend at 12 under par with Si Woo Kim and Russell Henley as his nearest challengers. Andrew Novak and Tommy Fleetwood are three back at 9 under, and Mackenzie Hughes and defending champion Scottie Scheffler are at 8 under.
“The golf course felt completely different,” Thomas noted after his second round. “It’s definitely firming up. We even noticed it just kind of on some chips, the pitch shots, like some wedges, the balls. Shots that I felt like I hit very nicely, and it just doesn’t — it’s not spinning as much. They’re getting crusty, and it’s fun. This place is so cool, I think, to play when it’s like this. It just puts such an emphasis on precision.”
Thomas wasn’t as precise off the tee as he was Thursday, and his putter cooled a bit, but Kim had it dialed in from tee to green and charged up the leaderboard with a 7-under 64 for the low round of the day.
And he wasn’t the only one. Novak was among four players who shot 65, and five more shot 66.
Among them was Fleetwood, the long-haired Englishman who has flirted with PGA Tour victories countless times — including here — but remains empty-handed.
With a hot putter and a sterling short game, he could have what it takes to take a wind-swept, sun-baked course.
RBC HERITAGE LEADERBOARD
| Place | Player | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Thomas | -12 |
| T2 | Si Woo Kim | -10 |
| T2 | Russell Henley | -10 |
| T4 | Andrew Novak | -9 |
| T4 | Tommy Fleetwood | -9 |
| T6 | Mackenzie Hughes | -8 |
| T6 | Scottie Scheffler | -8 |
| T8 | Wyndham Clark | -7 |
| T8 | J.T. Poston | -7 |
| T8 | Brian Harman | -7 |
| T8 | Collin Morikawa | -7 |
| T8 | Maverick McNealy | -7 |
But don’t sleep on the defending champ. Scheffler did his share of scrambling Friday to keep himself within striking distance going into the weekend as he aims to become the first back-to-back champion at the Heritage since Boo Weekley won in 2007 and 2008, and he’s undaunted by a four-shot deficit.
“I think I maybe only had one 36-hole lead this year, is that right?” Scheffler pondered in his post-round press conference. “It’s not like I’m leading every tournament. I feel like I’ve been in this position where I’m a touch on the outside looking in a lot. Two more solid days, and I’ll be right in it.”
By Justin Jarrett / LowcoSports
Justin Jarrett is the founder of LowcoSports. He has a passion for sports and community journalism and a questionable sense of humor.
