HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Justin Thomas ended nearly three years without a victory Sunday by making a birdie putt from just outside 20 feet in a playoff at Harbour Town to beat Andrew Novak in the RBC Heritage.
Thomas played bogey-free in dry, fast conditions for a 3-under 68, making a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th that looked like it might be the winner until Novak, who grew up in South Carolina, matched him with a big birdie of his own for a 68.
Novak, who has had three good chances to win in his last 14 tournaments, had an eight-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation that was left all the way.
In the playoff, Novak missed from just inside 35 feet, setting the stage for Thomas. The putt was so pure that Thomas dropped his putter before the ball dropped, stooping over and clutching both arms to celebrate a win that felt long overdue.
His previous win was the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in May of 2022. His game slipped and he missed the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in 2023, and he was left off the Presidents Cup team a year ago.
His game was back in order — he cracked the top 10 again — and needed only a victory to confirm his game was back among the elite.
“I didn't realize how much I missed winning,” Thomas said on the 18th green as he stood next to wife Jill and five-month-old daughter Molly.
Thomas and Novak finished at 17-under 267, three shots clear of anyone else.
Novak was a runner-up in Bermuda last fall. He was right there at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open. He was in the mix at the Valero Texas Open. And this looked like it might be his moment to break through until Thomas refused to be denied.
“Winning is hard. It's really, really hard,” Thomas said with a tinge of emotion in his voice. “I've worked my butt off and stayed patient, stayed positive.”
He won for the 16th time on the PGA Tour, and to his recollection, he has never had to make a putt of length on the 18th hole to win by a shot.
“That was as fun as I thought it would be,” Thomas said.
They pulled away in the middle of the round from a tight leaderboard — a four-way tie at one point as they were joined by 54-hole leader Si Woo Kim and Maverick McNealy.
Daniel Berger closed with a 65 to tie for third with McNealy (70), Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Ont. (67), and Brian Harman (69).
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., finished in a seven-way tie for 42nd at 5 under. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., finished in a five-way tie for 49th at 4 under, and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford finished in a five-way tie for 61st at 2 under.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler even got in on the act, just briefly. He started four shots behind and was even for the round through eight holes. But he ran off three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn to pull within two.
Scheffler was running out of hole when he took on a high-risk shot needing eagle to have a legitimate chance. That found the water, leading to double bogey. He still shot 70 and tied for eighth, his third straight top 10 while contending into the final hour.
“I think I’m really close,” Scheffler said. “I feel like I did a lot of things well this week, just a few of the important shots I just didn’t pull off. Outside of that it was a pretty solid week.”
Thomas won the tournament with a birdie in a playoff. He saved his chances toward the end of the front nine when he made four straight putts starting on the fifth hole — 7 feet for birdie, 7 feet for par, 8 feet for par and just inside 15 feet for birdie on No. 8, where he took on the trees with a 7-iron to give himself a chance.
Novak had tree trouble and battled away, getting a few good bounces and a remarkable par save from a sandy lie amid a forest on No. 11.
He moves high enough in the world ranking — inside the top 35 — that he should be a lock for the U.S. Open and now needs to stay in the top 50 the next month for the British Open.
“I’m not as frustrated as I thought I would be." Novak said. "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.
“I thought I was a little more comfortable down the stretch than maybe I have been in the past. Justin just went out and won it. There's nothing you can really do about it.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press
