Justin Thomas wins RBC Heritage after playoff for first PGA Tour victory in nearly 3 years

By / / Sports / 6 minutes of reading


Justin Thomas was over it. All the questions, the doubts, a lingering narrative stretching nearly three years: When would he win again?

Thomas held a one-shot lead with three holes to play Sunday at the RBC Heritage. The result he wanted so desperately was unfolding. Until Andrew Novak continued to hang around just a little bit too long for comfort. Seeking his first PGA Tour victory, Novak re-entered the picture with a birdie at the 16th and a chance for another at the 18th to end it. He did not. Thomas and Novak headed to a sudden-death playoff for the signature event title.

One more go at the 465-yard No. 18 and Thomas’ birdie ended the storylines: 1,064 days later, the two-time major champion was back where he knew he belonged.

“I’m sick of getting asked,” Thomas said on Friday of his winless drought, one day after tying the course record at Hilton Head with a 10-under 6. “I almost feel like I’m kind of past the point where fortunately you all have stopped asking me, which is nice, but I would also prefer to get that over with.”

The questions can be banished now.

Thomas is once again in the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour, with a victory in extra holes over Novak. He finished at 17 under par with a final-round 68 in regulation, draining a birdie putt from 21 feet in extra holes to take the title.

“Winning is hard. It’s really, really hard,” Thomas said to CBS on the 18th green. “I’ve worked my butt off. Stayed patient, stayed positive. … Just take for granted sometimes when you get on those runs. I didn’t realize how much I missed winning. Battling out there was so much fun.”

Just one week following a historic Masters, the no-cut signature event came with a stacked leaderboard, with world No. 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler contending nearly all weekend until he ejected himself with a double bogey late on Sunday afternoon. Novak, Maverick McNealy and Si Woo Kim — players who have been eyeing victories as of late — were bouncing around the lead. Daniel Berger, making a resurgence after a crippling back injury that required 18 months of recovery, shot up the leaderboard with a 65 on Sunday.

But it was Thomas, navigating the quirky but beloved Pete Dye design in expert fashion, who went out on Sunday and took control of the tournament, while facing a late-round surge from Novak down the final stretch.

Thomas grabbed a lead over Novak with a birdie on the par-4 No. 8, went out in 34, and followed it up with a gutsy 1-under 34 on the second nine. He made critical par saves on holes 13, 14 and 16 and holed a confident 24-footer for birdie on the par-5 15th.

As the ball dropped into the cup, he stood and looked back at the Hilton Head gallery, unleashing a powerful fist pump.

Then, Novak answered. Playing in the final group of the day alongside Kim, Novak dropped a birdie of his own on the par-4 16th to tie it up, putting the pressure on Thomas, and on himself, to come down the final stretch without a blip. Thomas finished with back-to-back pars and headed into the clubhouse with Novak still on the course. Thomas waited in the scoring room, eyes locked on the TV in front of him. He watched as his pursuer stuck an approach on No. 18 to 10 feet. Novak could not get it to drop. But his shot at a maiden title was not over.

The two sat facing backwards on their respective golf carts, headed back to the 18th tee, shook hands, and blasted drives right down the middle. Thomas, playing first from the fairway, sent his iron shot 20 feet left of the pin. Novak went further left. He thought the iron strike was executed perfectly to plan, but it drifted. A long 33 feet remained, which he would go on to two-putt.

It was all Thomas’ to take. He rolled the mid-range lag putt right into the center of the cup — a chance to hole a putt for the win, something he’d never faced in his 12 years as a PGA Tour player.

“I said to Joe on 18, I’ve never made a putt to win a tournament before, of length. Been fortunate to have a lot of tap-ins, but I’ve never made a putt. That was pretty cool. That was as fun as I’d thought it’d be,” he said.

Thomas’ putting has been the story of his climb back into contention, and now, back into the winner’s circle. He ranks 40th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting this season. Last year, he ended the season at No. 174, and the year prior to that at No. 135. He finished 3rd in the field in putting at Hilton Head.

Thomas also had a new, but not unfamiliar face on his bag at the big-money event. Joe Greiner caddied for his childhood best friend Max Homa for all six of his PGA Tour wins. But the pair split after the Players Championship as Homa endured continuing struggles on the course. At the Masters, Homa revealed that the break-up “was not (his) choice.” Thomas’ normal looper was out with a back injury before Augusta National, so Thomas made a call to Greiner. He remained on the bag one week later, for Thomas’ resurgent victory at Hilton Head.

“He knows I’m playing well, and he knows that I feel the same way. So he’s wanting to help but also trying to not over caddie, and it’s tough. But he’s doing a great job. It’s more fun than anything just because he’s got a great personality and sense of humor where I can make fun of him,” Thomas said of Greiner on Friday.

The end of Thomas’ drought comes at a pivotal time in the season for Ryder Cup status. The three-time U.S. team member has been one of the squad’s winningest members, but he notably missed the U.S. Presidents Cup team in 2024 after another subpar season. In January, Thomas said that being left off that team had him ready “to play a little pissed off.” With five top-10 finishes this season, the RBC victory included, that strategy has seemed to hold for Thomas.

Since 1960, six players had reached 16 or more victories before age 32: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods and last week’s Masters champion, Rory McIlroy, per The Athletic contributor Justin Ray. Thomas is the seventh.

(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)





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