Sunday Drama at Harbour Town

The iconic lighthouse at Harbour Town witnessed an emotional finish on Sunday as Justin Thomas captured the 2025 RBC Heritage in dramatic fashion, defeating Andrew Novak with a birdie on the first playoff hole. The victory ended a nearly three-year winless drought for Thomas, dating back to his triumph at the 2022 PGA Championship.

“Winning is hard. It’s really, really hard,” an emotional Thomas said afterward. “I’ve worked my butt off and stayed patient, stayed positive. I’ve got a great wife, a great team, a great daughter… just take it for granted sometimes when you get on those runs. I didn’t realize how much I missed winning and battling out there today was so much fun.”

A Test of Patience

After opening the tournament with a course record-tying 61 on Thursday, Thomas found himself playing catch-up to 54-hole leader Si Woo Kim entering Sunday’s final round. Thomas delivered a composed, bogey-free 68 to reach 17-under par, showcasing the kind of patience that had sometimes eluded him during his victory drought.

“I’m really proud of myself today with how patient I was,” Thomas reflected. “I just plodded my way around, and I said to Joe [Griener] coming up No. 18 that I’ve never made a putt to win a tournament before… and that was pretty cool. That was as fun as I thought it would be.”

His round included a critical par save on the difficult par-3 4th hole and timely birdies at the 5th, 8th, and 15th holes. The birdie at 15 briefly gave him a one-shot lead before Novak answered with a birdie of his own on the 16th to pull even.

Playoff Magic

With both players tied at 17-under after regulation, they returned to the challenging 18th hole for the playoff. Thomas struck a much better drive than he had in regulation, giving himself a better angle to the green. When his 20-foot birdie putt found the bottom of the cup, Thomas unleashed a ferocious celebration that revealed just how much this victory meant to him.

The win represents the 16th of Thomas’s PGA Tour career, making him just the seventh player since 1960 to win 16 or more times on the PGA Tour, including multiple majors, before the age of 32. It’s also his first victory as both a husband and father.

Novak’s Close Call

Andrew Novak, the South Carolina native playing in the final pairing for the third time this season, acquitted himself admirably with a final-round 68 that included a bogey-free back nine. He had a chance to win in regulation with an 8-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole, but the attempt never threatened the cup.

“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, the fact that I was able to scrap out almost a win with not really swinging my best… 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.”

Other Contenders

Daniel Berger made a Sunday charge with five birdies on his front nine before cooling off, ultimately finishing tied for third at 14-under. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler showed flashes of brilliance but couldn’t sustain his momentum, tying for eighth at 12-under.

“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.”

The 2022 champion Jordan Spieth showed signs of improvement with four under-par rounds to finish tied for 18th at 9-under, while Collin Morikawa struggled mightily on the weekend, falling to a tie for 54th after being in contention at the halfway point.

Thomas takes home $3.6 million from the $20 million purse and moves into strong position in the FedEx Cup standings as the PGA Tour season heats up heading into the summer months.