PGA & LPGA Updates

Thomas Dominates at Harbour Town

Justin Thomas delivered a masterclass at Harbour Town Golf Links on Thursday, firing an incredible 10-under 61 to tie the course record and take the first-round lead at the RBC Heritage. Thomas made 11 birdies during his round, taking full advantage of the perfect weather conditions with hardly any wind and warm sunshine.

“I’ve been playing really well, really solid. Felt good about things,” Thomas said. “I just didn’t play well last week. Put some really good work in the couple days leading into the start today, and I felt prepared. It was just about going out and doing it, and it was nice to do so.”

Six of Thomas’s birdie putts came from inside 10 feet, and he added three more from beyond 35 feet. Despite his incredible performance, Thomas narrowly missed setting a new course record when he failed to convert a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole after a perfectly placed 8-iron approach.

Scheffler Not Far Behind

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler, coming off a fourth-place finish at the Masters, carded a 7-under 64 to sit just three shots back. Scheffler described his round as “stress-free,” hitting 16 of 18 greens in regulation.

“I will never say that golf is easy, ever. Golf is hard,” Scheffler said with a laugh. But he acknowledged the contrast between Augusta National and Harbour Town: “I felt like if you compared my four rounds last week to today, today would be a much less stressful round of golf in terms of scrambling for a par.”

Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Russell Henley matched Scheffler’s 64, while U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark shot 65. The group at 66 included former Hilton Head winner Matt Fitzpatrick and Gary Woodland, who continues his impressive comeback from brain surgery.

Lindblad Shares LPGA Lead

Meanwhile, over at the JM Eagle LA Championship, rookie Ingrid Lindblad fired a career-best 9-under 63 on Friday to join Ashleigh Buhai atop the leaderboard at 13-under 131.

The 25-year-old former LSU star from Sweden put on a putting clinic, making 10 birdies against just one bogey through her first 14 holes before parring the final four.

“I thought I read the greens really well,” Lindblad said. “It wasn’t just like tap-ins for par. It was 10-footers, 17-footers. I read the greens really well.”

Buhai, who held a share of the first-round lead after an opening 63, added a solid 68 on Friday to maintain her position at the top. The 35-year-old South African and 2022 Women’s British Open champion parred her final five holes to remain tied with Lindblad.

Top Players in Contention

Australian Minjee Lee, who won this event in 2019 when it was played at Wilshire Country Club, sits one shot back at 12-under after a second-round 65. First-round co-leader Yan Liu posted a 70 to drop into a tie for fourth at 11-under with Lauren Coughlin (67) and Miyu Yamashita (65).

World No. 1 Nelly Korda remains in the hunt at 9-under following a 68, despite a mid-round stumble that included a double bogey. Korda is using this event as final preparation before defending her title at next week’s Chevron Championship, the first major of the LPGA season.

“In the middle of the front nine just had a little bit of a hiccup with kind of a silly double and a bogey to back it up,” Korda said. “So, fought my way back to even through nine and kind of played some solid golf on the back nine.”

Second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul also sits at 9-under after a 67, while two-time defending champion Hannah Green moved to 8-under with a second-round 67.