Justin Thomas missed a new Harbour Town Golf Links record by inches but still bagged the early lead at the RBC Heritage on Thursday in Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Thomas rolled in 11 birdies and tied the single-round course record with a 10-under 61, narrowly missing a 5 1/2-foot putt right of the hole for a record-setting 60 after dropping in a series of shots with the short stick from substantial distance. Thomas took par at 18.
“I just played really solid,” Thomas said. “I feel like I didn’t do anything crazy. I just drove the ball well, which is very, very important out here, and I felt like it was just one of those days I put the ball in a spot that I had a lot of good numbers. I had a lot of kind of full wedges to where — although you have to be a little conservative at times out here, I felt like they were kind of pins and angles and everything that I could be a little aggressive and just kind of got rolling with it.”
Thomas rated his second shot, an 8-iron into the 18th green, as his best shot of a round with plenty of options to choose from.
He got himself within striking distance of the record with a birdie putt from 38 feet on the par-3 17th before his missed putt at the last, which was still good for the lowest opening-round score in RBC Heritage history.
Thomas was three shots clear of Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley, who were tied for second place at 7-under 64 in the $20 million PGA Tour signature event.
Thomas made the turn with a share of the lead at 6-under 30, comprised of six birdies and three pars, but opened the back with bogey on No. 10 before settling back in by taking birdie on five of seven holes.
Fiery start in Harbour Town ??@JustinThomas34 ties the course record with a 61 @RBC_Heritage! pic.twitter.com/5644tQ2tlp
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 17, 2025
“I love it,” Thomas said of the tight Harbour Town course layout. “I wish we played more places like it. I think more architects should design places like this. It kind of stands the test of time.”
Defending champion Scheffler made the turn trailing by one shot but quickly pulled even at 6 under with a 21-foot birdie putt at the 10th. He had seven birdies and played bogey-free Thursday.
Scheffler is coming off a fourth-place finish at Augusta National in his bid to defend the 2024 Masters title. He appeared at ease on Thursday and was precise on another course where he knows how to win. He cited only one shot, off the tee at 11, that he didn’t execute to plan – and Scheffler still scrambled for par.
“Did it feel easy? Easy would not be — I think definitely like a less stressful round,” Scheffler said of the juxtaposition between his final round at the Masters and the RBC Heritage opening 18.
“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. A lot of the stuff I had to do last week I felt like I didn’t have to do today to shoot a good score. The golf course is obviously a bit different, but I was in position most of the day today. I hit a lot of iron shots. I got off to a good start. Overall, yeah, fairly … I would say stress-free day.
“But I will never say that golf is easy, ever. Golf is hard.”
Henley, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month for his first Tour win since 2022, kept pace with birdies on three of his final four holes.
Wyndham Clark shot 65 and is one shot out of second place. Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick, winner of the 2023 RBC Heritage, shot 66 and was part of a logjam five off the lead at 66 that included Brian Campbell, J.J. Spaun, Gary Woodland and Brian Harman. Fitzpatrick chipped in from 22 yards for eagle on the par-5 second and birdied two other par-5s (Nos. 5, 15) in a bogey-free round.
An 11-way tie for 10th at 4-under 67 featured Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Keegan Bradley and Englishman Justin Rose, who lost a playoff to Rory McIlroy at the Masters on Sunday.
Thursday was Thomas’ 14th career round of 62 or better, most on the PGA Tour in the past 40 years. Kevin Na (11) is next in line with Tiger Woods and Zach Johnson among a group with nine rounds of 62 or below. Thomas tied the course record at TPC Sawgrass with a 62 in March he secured with 11 birdies and a round-capping 18-foot putt, one day after he shot 78.
He said he’ll expect much different conditions as the course dries out into Sunday’s final round.
“Especially if we continue to get weather like this and if these fairways get firm, the greens are already getting firm, it’s going to be everything we want by the end of the week,” Thomas said.
Thomas finished tied for fifth in 2024 with a 72-hole score of 14 under and a single-round best of 6 under in the final round. Scheffler won the event at 19 under, three clear of runner-up Sahith Theegala.
Theegala shot a 4-over 75 Thursday and is tied for 69th in the 72-man field.
–Field Level Media
