Justin Thomas ends victory drought with RBC Heritage title after long putt in playoff

Walking to the 18^th green, Justin Thomas noted to his caddie that he’d never made a lengthy putt to win a tournament on the PGA Tour. Then he stepped up and buried a 21-foot birdie putt to win the RBC Heritage on Sunday over Andrew Novak for his 16^th Tour title.

"That was as fun as I thought it would be,” Thomas said.

The 31-year-old native of Kentucky is a winner again for the first in two years, 10 months and 29 days, dating to the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills. Thomas shot a bogey-free final-round 3-under 68 at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, for a 72-hole total of 17-under 267.

“I didn’t realize how much I missed winning,” he said. 

Novak was bidding for his first victory in the state where he grew up and went to college at Wofford. Early on, it looked as if it might be his day after he chipped-in from the fringe at No. 6 for birdie to take the solo lead at 16 under but gave it right back with a bogey at seven. Playing in the final group for the third time this season, the most of any player on Tour, Novak tied Thomas again with a birdie at No. 9. He benefited from wayward shots at Nos. 12 and 13 getting fortuitous bounces from the trees. He holed a 17-foot birdie at No. 16 to tie Thomas at 17 under but missed an 8-foot birdie putt at 18, which didn't scare the hole, for the win.

"Justin just went out and won it," said Novak, who closed in 68. "There's nothing you can really do about it."

During his winless stretch, Thomas missed the FedEx Cup Playoffs in 2023 and was left off the 2024 U.S. Presidents Cup team. He won for the first time since becoming a father and joined an exclusive club consisting of Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in having at least 16 victories and two majors before the age of 32.

Thomas finished third in Strokes Gained: Putting for the week, a vast improvement over his past putting woes. After ranking No. 174 last season in SGP, Thomas sought help from Xander Schauffele, who he considers to have some of the finest putting fundamentals, and worked on his putting technique at the end of last season. "He told me I had no home base," said Thomas, who realized he had abandoned a successful routine from his best seasons with the short stick in 2017-18. He also realized he had become too mechanical and robotic. "And that's not me," Thomas said. "I'm better off, I call it 'pro-am putting,' when it's like I obviously want to make a putt that I'm hitting in a pro-am but I'm not grinding on read and thinking about all these different things. I'm pretty much stepping up, give it a look and go, and how often I make putts. It was probably more up here than it was anywhere else."

The 3-hour session with Schauffele has paid dividends. Thomas had improved to 40^th in SGP entering this week. He enjoyed his best statistical performance in quite some time.According to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, Thomas joked, “I may get an invoice in my locker.”

Thomas had been trending towards victory, recording four top-3 finishes, including two runner-up finishes this season. He made two late bogeys at the Valspar Championship in March, which allowed Viktor Hovland to surge past him and get the win. Thomas had gone 59 starts without a victory. “Everyone wants it bad but he has that chip on his shoulder,” CBS Sports’s Trevor Immelman said.

And before the winning putt broke to the right and rolled in center cut, Thomas dropped his putter because he knew it looked good all the way. "Relief or joy?" Thomas was asked. "It was more joy," he said. "When the ball went in it was pure joy."

And now the victory drought is over. "Winning on a golf course like this is a pretty cool thing to add to your resume," Thomas said. "It's a great feeling...I just was so happy. I couldn't stop smiling."