Having just finished the opening round of the RBC Heritage with a course record score of 61, Justin Thomas won the tournament by defeating Andrew Novak in a playoff hole to take home the prize of $3.6 million.
Rory McIlroy, who had just finished his career grand slam by winning the Masters last weekend, did not participate in the competition in order to enjoy his success, which was a defining moment in his career. Following his opening round score of 61, Thomas saw a minor decline in his performance, as he went on to pitch consecutive scores of 69 in the second and third rounds at the Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Thomas even found himself coated in mud and smelled “like a wet dog” after attempting to play a shot out of the water on Saturday. He was unable to play the shot. The last day of the tournament saw both he and Novak shoot identical 68s, but it was Thomas who ultimately prevailed over Novak by a single stroke in the playoffs. The fact that Novak finished in second place did not leave him without any prize money; he was awarded a cool $2.16 million for his performance.
To win is a challenge. When asked about his victory, which was his first since the 2022 PGA Championship, Thomas stated, “It’s really, really difficult.” “But I worked my butt off and stayed patient, stayed positive.”
With the RBC Heritage title, the two-time winner of the PGA Championship can now add it to his collection of accomplishments. Last weekend, Thomas competed in the Masters and ended tied for 36th place. “When you get on those runs, I just didn’t realize how much I missed winning,” said Thomas in conclusion. “Just battling out there was so much fun.”
It was his most recent putt that brought him the most satisfaction. “I said to Joe (Grenier, his caddie) coming up 18, I’ve never made a putt to win a tournament before like of length,” Thomas stated in his interview. Although I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of tap-ins, I’ve never made a putt, and that was a very fantastic experience. That was just as much fun as I had anticipated it would be!
The 32-year-old Thomas made a mistake on Saturday and repositioned his golf ball, re-aligning it on the par-5 second hole. This resulted in a penalty of one stroke, which detracted from his chances of winning the championship. “My ball did move down a fraction because there’s just some stuff around it, and I was moving rocks,” Thomas revealed to an official who was called over. “I was moving rocks,” Thomas said.
By winning the championship, he has finally put an end to his protracted wait for a victory. According to what Thomas said on Friday, “I want to win so badly.” “I get sick of being asked,” she said. “I almost have the impression that I’ve kind of passed the point where, fortunately, you all have stopped asking me, which is nice, but I would also prefer to get that over with.”
In the aftermath of his defeat in the playoffs on Sunday, Novak was questioned about his feelings. As far as feelings are concerned, he stated, “Not so much.” I am not nearly as frustrated as I had anticipated I would be. I had the impression that I accomplished a lot of worthwhile things. I am very pleased of myself for putting myself in that position when I really felt like I wasn’t swinging it that great this week. The fact that I was able to scrape out almost a win while not really swinging my best is something that I am pretty happy of doing. Occasionally, the irons appeared to be giving me problems.
It was amazing that I was able to hit a few decent shots down the stretch, since when there is a lot of pressure on my shoulders, things often become more difficult, but I was still able to pull off several shots. When I saw that, I was overjoyed. I was under the impression that I was a little more at ease down the stretch than I might have been in the past on occasion. All of a sudden, Justin went out and won it. In all honesty, there is nothing that you can do to avoid it.