Justin Thomas captured Sunday’s PGA TOUR event in Hilton Head, SC with the longest putt he ever had to sink for victory. In a playoff with Andrew Novak, Thomas told his substitute caddie Joe Greiner that he had never had to make a 21-footer in that circumstance until the RBC Heritage.
“I think there’s definitely some relief in there, but…. when the ball went in, it was pure joy. It was excitement and happy, but yeah, after I kind of had that interaction with Joe, it was just looking around and it was joy. I just was so happy. I couldn’t stop smiling,” Thomas said.
Both emotions, relief and joy, are understandable since Thomas would end a long victory drought. To be precise, it was two years and nearly 11 months since he left Southern Hills with the Wanamaker trophy for his second PGA Championship.
He’d played in 59 TOUR events since and racked up 16 top ten finishes, 10 in the top five and was runner up three times, including this year’s Valspar Championship near Tampa.
Thomas shot a bogey-free final-round 3-under 68 at Harbor Town Golf Links for a 72-hole total of 17-under 267.
“Winning on a golf course like this is a pretty cool thing to add to your resume,” added Thomas. “It’s a great feeling. I just was so happy. I couldn’t stop smiling.”
In his RBC Heritage debut and first career playoff, Novak’s solo-second marks his second runner-up finish 99 starts. He was a runner-up in Bermuda last fall and in contention at both Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open and TPC San Antonio in the Valero Texas Open.
“I’m not as frustrated as I thought I would be. I feel like I did a lot of good things. I’m pretty proud of putting myself in that position when I really felt like I wasn’t swinging it that great this week,” Novak said. I was happy to see that. I thought I was a little more comfortable down the stretch than maybe I have been in the past.”
Daniel Berger fired a final round 6-under par 65 to tie for third place with Maverick McNealy (70), Mackenzie Hughes (67) and Brian Harman. The reigning Open Champion carded a two-under par 69 to finish minus 14 par for the week and three shots back.
The TOUR now heads to suburban New Orleans, April 24-27, for the Zurich Classic team tournament, a terrific tune up for the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on Long Island, New York in late September.
Masters Champion Rory McIlroy will pair with fellow Irishman Shane Lowry at TPC Louisiana.