With the evening light of the Calibogue Sound in the backdrop, Justin Thomas turned to the gallery and let out a scream of pure elation.
The last 1,064 days were well worth the wait for this one.
With a dazzling 21-foot putt from the left side of the iconic 18th green, Thomas made birdie on the first playoff hole Sunday to defeat surprise contender Andrew Novak and capture the 2025 RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing. It was a mix of joy and relief for Thomas, who found himself in the PGA Tour winner’s circle for the first time since the 2022 PGA Championship.
“I think there’s definitely some relief in there, but it was — when the ball went in, it was pure joy,” It was excitement and happy, but yeah, after I kind of had that interaction with [caddy] Joe, it was just looking around and it was joy. I just was so happy. I couldn’t stop smiling.”
Trailing by one shot entering Sunday’s final round behind only Si Woo Kim, Thomas delivered a bogey-free 68 – including a key birdie on the difficult par-four eighth hole – to earn him a shot at eventually winning his first plaid jacket. It’s a full-circle victory for the Louisville native, who formerly played at the annual Junior Heritage tournament also hosted at Harbour Town Golf Links.
“This is a golf course and a place that I love. I’ve been fortunate to play a junior tournament here, the Junior Heritage. I feel like it’s a golf course that fits my game or it’s a place that I really enjoy to play because I think it’s a place that rewards good golf, but it can really, really penalize you and you can make bogeys so fast if you get out of position.”
Kim’s one-stroke overnight advantage didn’t last long on Sunday, as a crowd of competitors converged for a four-way tie at 14-under par with Si Woo including Thomas, Novak, and Maverick McNealy. Thomas surged ahead with a pair of birdies on the front nine, picking up momentum on the par-five fifth before conquering the eighth hole with a well-placed second shot just 13 feet away from the cup. Playing alongside Kim in the day’s final pairing, Novak matched Thomas at the top as he made the turn, navigating a birdie on the short par-four ninth after a drive into the sand.
The roars on the back nine could be felt all across the course when Scottie Scheffler made his move, draining back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12 to draw within two shots of Thomas’ and Novak’s lead while McNealy steadied one back of the pace. Scheffler and Savannah native Brian Harman continued to threaten, but both were undone by taking chances on the par-five 15th hole. Harman bounced his second shot into the water on the left side of the hole, and finished with a bogey despite still having a chance at a 10-foot par putt. It was even worse for Scheffler, as the defending champion found the drink while trying to curve the ball towards the green on the dogleg left. Instead, Scheffler took his drop in the trees and carded a double bogey to end all hope of a magical comeback down the stretch. A double on the par-four 12th derailed a golden opportunity for McNealy, essentially setting up a two-man duel between Thomas and Novak, the latter looking for his first ever PGA Tour victory.
Justin Thomas grabbed the solo lead at the 15th green, playing a conservative approach and coming up big on the putting surface with a 24-foot birdie putt to ignite the roars with three holes to go. Novak couldn’t match Thomas’ birdie on 15, but the Raleigh native evened things up the hard way, playing the difficult 16th hole perfectly for a birdie of his own to move back into a tie at 17-under par. The first chance for a walk-off win Sunday came to Novak, who found himself a golden look at a birdie on the 72nd from just 10 feet out. But the winning bid just missed the mark, sending the thrilling tourney to a sudden-death playoff.
Both Thomas and Novak hit the green on 18 in the first extra hole, but it was Justin who had the advantage about 10 feet closer to the pin. Novak lagged a solid effort a hair under three feet away, giving the chance for his opponent to close it out. Thomas took a read of the short break from left to right, and his putter did the rest as it sank before a hyped Harbour Town crowd. The near three-year wait was over.
“The putt in the playoff was a putt I feel like I’d seen in the past,” Thomas said. “It’s kind of a funky little pin. If you try to play too much break. It seems like it kind of stays out. But more than anything, like I did all weekend, I just felt like I had my read a little bit outside the left of it being straight and falling right, and I just committed to that and really tried to put a good stroke with good speed on it, and it looked good the whole way.”
Daniel Berger’s stellar 6-under round on Sunday vaulted him into a tie for third place with Harman, McNealy, and Canadian Mackenzie Hughes (-14). Tommy Fleetwood( -13) took seventh place along, while Scheffler, Kim, and Russell Henley (-12) rounded out the top 10.
It was a historical week for Thomas from the start, from a course-record tying 61 on Thursday to a thrilling win late Sunday evening. And he did it all in front of his wife and young daughter Molly, making it an even more memorable day to break a long-winding drought.
“Just having her here, having her and Jill here. Just seeing them walking up 18 green even in regulation,” Thomas said. “I just would tell her how much fun it was for us to do this as a family.”
By Wes Kerr / LowcoSports
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.
