Hilton Head Island, SC – Justin Thomas had one more obstacle to show that his game was back where he felt he belonged, and clarified it on Sunday in the inheritance of RBC with the longest putt he ever did to win.
Walking until the 18th century in Harbor Town in a playoff with Andrew Novak, Thomas commented that he filled Caddy Joe Greiner who had never made a slut in length to win in the final hole. He had just out of 20 feet.
The putt was so pure that Thomas dropped his putter before the ball disappeared in the cup, wearing pure joy at the end of almost three years without victory.
“That was quite good,” he said. “That was as fun as I thought it would be.”
Thomas played without bogey in dry and fast conditions in a course that demanded precision, making a 25 -foot putt birdie in hole 16 and closing with a low 68.
Perhaps the most nervous moment came in the score trailer when Thomas saw Novak stand on an 8 feet set for victory. The Putt Birdie stayed all the way, and Novak-who made a great birdie of 16 of the 16 years to join him at 17 under 267.
In the playoff, Novak was lost from 35 feet, preparing the stage for Thomas. He felt pure joy as he looked around at the stands full of one side, the calibogue sounds in another and his family encouraging behind green 18.
“I didn’t realize how much I missed,” Thomas said in Green 18 who was next to his wife Jill and the 5 -month -old daughter Molly.
His previous victory was the PGA championship in Southern Hills in May 2022. His game slipped and lost the FEDEX Cup playoffs for the first time in 2023, and left him out of the Presidents Cup team a year ago.
His game ordered again, broke the Top 10 again, and only needed a victory to confirm that his game had returned among the elite.
“I think it was the last thing that was missing, so to speak,” said Thomas. “It’s hard to say, because obviously the races are so long and there are so many things up and down and they are happening a lot that you never know at what point in your career it is until it is treated.
“At least for me, I felt it was the last thing I needed to make my own well -being.”
Novak was runner -up in Bermuda the past fall. I was there in Torrey Pines in open farmers insurance. I was open in the mixture in the Valero Texas. And this seemed that it could be his time to make his way until Thomas refused to be denied.
“I’m not as frustrated as I thought it would be.” Novak said. “I feel that I did many good things. I am quite proud or I put myself in that position when I really felt that I was doing so good this week.
“I thought I was a little more comfortable in the stretch that I may have bone in the past. Justin has just won and won. There is nothing you can really do about it.”
Thomas won for the 16th time in the PGA Tour and moved not. 6 in the world. He also moved to Top Six in the Ryder Cup classification.
Thomas and Novak moved away in the middle of the round of a tight classification table, a four -way draw at one point when they joined the 54 holes leader, if Woo Kim and Maverick McNealy.
Daniel Berger closed with a 65 to tie for third place with McNealy (70), Mackenzie Hughes (67) and Brian Harman (69).
Defensor champion Scottie Scheffler even entered the spot, only in lyrics. He started four shots behind and it was only for the round through eight holes. But he ran out of three birdies in a four -hole stretch around the turn to throw inside two.
Scheffler was running out of holes when he taught in a high -risk shot Noving Eagle to have a legitimate opportunity. That found the water, which led to double Bogey. He still shot 70 and tied in the eighth place, his third consecutive top 10 while felt in the last hour.
“I think I’m very close,” said Scheffler. “I feel that I did a good things this week, just some of the important shots that I did not achieve. Outside that was a fairly solid week.”
Thomas won the tournament with a Birdie in a playoff. He saved his chans towards the end of the nine strikers when he made five putts starting in the fourth hole: 8 feet for the pair, 7 feet for Birdie, 7 feet for the pair, 8 feet for the pair and just inside 15 feet for Birdie in no. 8, where he took it in the trees with an iron 7 to take a chance.
Novak had tree problems and fought, obtaining some good rebounds and a notable except for a sandy lie in the middle of a forest in number 11.
It moves high enough in the world ranking, within Top 35, which should be a blockade for the United States Open and now needs to remain among the top 50 next month for the British Open.
