Around the Links: JT's big win

After Rory McIlroy’s victory at Augusta, many golf fans assumed that the emotional rollercoasters were over for the year, but last weekend’s RBC Heritage provided another rocky road to a golfer’s first win in a long time.

The RBC Heritage, one of the PGA Tour’s eight signature events, is played at the par-71 Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, with the winner receiving a plaid jacket rather than a green one. Last year, Scottie Scheffler went home with both jackets after winning at The Masters and RBC in 2024.

Scheffler returned to the field along with Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Justin Thomas and more, creating a stacked field for the first tournament after The Masters.

On day one of the RBC, Thomas came out firing and established the headline for Thursday right away. After notching birdies on six of the first nine holes, Thomas would finish the day with a -10 61, tying the course record at Harbour Town and giving him the lead.

Despite only finishing at -2 on Friday, Thomas salvaged a two-shot lead over Si Woo Kim, his first two-day lead in almost four years. Thomas shot 69 again on day three, but Kim’s 66 gave him the one-shot lead over Thomas.

Tied with Thomas was Andrew Novak, the 62nd-ranked golfer on the Official World Golf Ranking before the RBC Heritage. On Sunday, none of these golfers knew what a rollercoaster they’d be in for.

Kim opened his day with back-to-back pars, and Thomas opened with four straight pars. Novak birdied the second, then bogeyed the third. To finish the front nine, Novak would birdie three more times and bogey once to finish at -2 on the front, propelling him to -16 on the tournament.

Thomas also notched two birdies on the front, tying Novak, while Kim’s birdie at the ninth hole brought him back to where he started the day at -15. On the back nine, both Novak and Thomas would only birdie once, while Kim imploded with two bogeys and a double at the 14th that would place him at -12 on the tournament and tied for eighth.

Since Thomas and Novak finished the final 18 all tied up, that meant playoff golf for the second week in a row. Both golfers played the 18th hole again for the playoff, where Thomas drilled a 21-foot birdie putt for the win over Novak.

Winning the plaid jacket meant just as much to Thomas as winning a green jacket would have, as his victory in South Carolina snapped an almost three-year drought without a victory.

Last year’s low amateur at the U.S. Open, Neal Shipley, also captured a huge playoff win on the Korn Ferry Tour, winning in the LECOM Suncoast Classic. Garrick Higgo also won the Corales Puntacana Championship over fan-favorite Joel Dahmen after Dahmen bogeyed the final two holes to surrender the lead to Higgo.

The heart of the PGA Tour season continued on Thursday with the Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana. The Zurich is the only team event on the tour’s schedule and features teams of two golfers that play a best ball format in rounds one and three and an alternate shot in the third and fourth rounds.

Last year, McIlroy and Shane Lowry won the tournament. This week, the two will look to retain, with McIlroy returning to action for the first time since completing the career grand slam.

Other featured teams include brother-brother teams like the Fitzpatricks and Hojgaards, Aaron Rai and Sahith Theegala, and Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama. As of the writing of this article, Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Velo lead the tournament, with the Hojgaards just one shot behind them.

Dylan Sechrist is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email dks5749@psu.edu.