2026 Guide to the RBC Heritage by Augusta Magazine Custom Pubs

2026 GUIDE TO THE

RBC HERITAGE

Presented by Boeing

A FORTUITOUS COURSE FLOW STATE FOR THE LOVE OF DYE 2025 TOURNAMENT RECAP

Justin

Thomas 2 0 25 C HAMPI ON

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CONTENTS 18

Heritage Classic Foundation

Associated Press/ Ken Murray/ Icon Sportswire

West Fraser

Heritage Classic Foundation

A FORTUITOUS COURSE

24 FLOW STATE The remarkable talents of the Lowcoutry’s native son, West Fraser. – Steven Uhles

Steve Wilmot wasn’t entirely sure where his path would take him. – Johnathan McGinty

60 THOMAS RETURNS TO HIS WINNING WAYS A recap of the 2025 RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing. – Joe VanHoose

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES Justin Thomas makes his return from a back injury to defend his title. – Johnathan McGinty

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33 FOR THE

LOVE OF DYE

One of the PGA TOUR’s top venues is now better than ever. – Chris Gay

80 PARTING SHOT

In 2003, Davis Love III became the first golfer to win the RBC Heritage five times. – Ashlee Duren

43 ONES TO

WATCH/DARK HORSES Our annual top picks and long shots for the 2026 RBC Heritage winner. – Johnathan McGinty

On the Cover Justin Thomas Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

At A Glance

shutterstock/eQroy

Since 1969, golfers have been teeing it up on Hilton Head Island at the Heritage. When Charles Fraser, the developer of Sea Pines, announced the PGA-level tournament many had their doubts. Would the world’s best golfers play in the inaugural event? Yes. In fact, Jack Nicklaus, who helped Pete Dye design the course, played in the first tournament, along with Arnold Palmer. Palmer would go on to win the inaugural tournament. - Info from rbcheritage.com

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AT A G L A N C E

The RBC Heritage kicks off like no other event on the PGA TOUR. On Tuesday of Tournament week, the past champion, Heritage Classic Foundation Board members, volunteers and state dignitaries parade around the Harbour Town Yacht Basin to the sounds of the Citadel’s Pipe and Drum band. The past champion is presented with his Captain of Gentlemen Golfers plaque and continues the tradition of using an authentic hickory club to hit a featherie-style golf ball into the Calibogue Sound in unison with a cannon shot. Those shots officially begin the start of Tournament week and are a reenactment of a Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews tradition dating back to the mid-18th century. - Info from rbcheritage.com

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AT A G L A N C E

Did you know? The Famous RBC Heritage Gnome The colorful garden gnome has become one of the tournament’s most popular collectibles and a favorite photo prop for fans and players.

$130

MILLION

Economic Impact The event generates over $130 million annually for the South Carolina economy.

A Course That Rewards Precision Harbour Town Golf Links is known for being one of the shortest courses on the PGA TOUR, meaning TOUR accuracy and strategy matter more than distance.

The Plaid Jacket The winner is awarded a red tartan plaid jacket, honoring the tournament’s Scottish roots.

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A Champion’s Prize Standing 16 inches tall, the Sir William Innes Champions Trophy is a bronze sculpture finished with a rich patina and engraved with the names of RBC Heritage champions. The iconic trophy was redesigned by renowned sports trophy sculptor Malcolm DeMille for the Heritage Classic Foundation.

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A Fortuitous

COURSE By Johnathan McGinty | Photos courtesy of Heritage Classic Foundation FORTY YEARS AGO, Steve Wilmot wasn’t entirely sure where his path would take him.

Relatively fresh out of college, he already had two jobs that hadn’t panned out, was contemplating a move away from the Northeast to work in an unfamiliar industry and had just wrapped up a stint as, well, Santa Claus in a New Jersey mall.

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Wilmot didn’t know much about golf, but he did understand opportunities. “I figured that if I didn’t take the job, I would have been the Easter Bunny that year,” he jokes. That career adjustment allowed him to find his calling, ultimately landing him the role he’s held for the better part of four decades as president of the Heritage Classic Foundation and tournament director of the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing. His responsibilities range from overseeing the tournament — a Signature Event on the PGA TOUR — to guiding the charitable arm of the event through its work with the foundation. A humble leader, Wilmot’s emphasis has long been on building a collaborative and supportive team, one that empowers others to develop, grow and lead. It pays homage to his days of playing football at Guilford College, a small institution in Greensboro, N.C. His belief in the importance of teamwork, mutual responsibility and shared successes has allowed the Sea Pines tournament to navigate what, at times, has been an uncertain journey of its own during his tenure. In fact, when Wilmot accepted the role with the Heritage after a short stint at the Carolinas PGA, he figured he’d only have the position for a few months. At the time, The Sea Pines Resort was in the midst of bankruptcy, and the PGA TOUR, lacking the funds that fuel the professional game today, was uncertain about the event’s future. “I thought I’d be here 10 months, and it’s now 40 years, two kids and me becoming a grandfather later,” Wilmot says. “I count my blessings every day to be part of this tournament that means so much to this community, let alone this region, let alone golf, let alone the state of South Carolina. It’s amazing to be part of something so special.”

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“I’m very passionate about my job, and I love my job, but I don’t have to do this — I get to do this.” –Steve Wilmot

Wilmot with Annabella McSwain and his daughter, Ashley in 2011.

What makes the golfing event so special for so many are those deep connections to the community. RBC Heritage, like other events on the PGA TOUR, is dedicated to raising funds to support various initiatives throughout Hilton Head Island. In 2025, the Heritage Classic Foundation raised a record $4.4 million that was distributed across

six charitable giving pillars. In all, the tournament has helped the foundation raise more than $61.8 million since 1987, while also driving roughly $135 million in economic impact each year. That meaningful impact, however, is just one testament to the symbiotic relationship between the tournament and the community.

Prior to being named a Signature Event by the PGA TOUR in 2024, the RBC Heritage battled through several periods of uncertainty. The loss of Verizon as a title sponsor in 2010 represented an existential crisis to the event, and the community responded in kind. Funding from the state and local community provided a lifeline to the

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cherished golf competition in 2011, setting the stage for RBC to invest in the event and help propel it to the success it has today. The constant, Wilmot pointed out, is change, which is why he encourages his team to put an emphasis on continuous learning and be open to new ways to treat its guests, serve its players and support its community. “The day I stop learning is the day I’ll get out of the business, and I still feel like I have things to give and things to learn,” Wilmot says. “That’s one of my philosophies around here — just because we did it one way five years ago may have been right then, but that doesn’t mean it is now. Change is tough and change is difficult, but change is inevitable and change is necessary.” From changes in ticketing to the placement of strategic fencing on

Wilmot and Pete Dye

the course to enhance security, Wilmot and his team have embraced the value of change in the unending pursuit of excellence. To that end, change even came to The Sea Pines Resort this past year. Harbour Town Golf Links recently completed a restoration process

that focused on preserving the award-winning design of Pete Dye’s original vision while incorporating necessary tweaks throughout the course to ensure championship-level conditions for PGA TOUR players and resort guests alike. It’s part of the journey that continues for Wilmot, who remains as grateful and optimistic about what’s to come as he was when he first set foot on the property four decades ago. “I’m very passionate about my job, and I love my job, but I don’t have to do this — I get to do this,” Wilmot says. “Love what you do and do what you love. To be involved with the PGA TOUR is incredible, but it’s all the other things, too. It’s teamwork, it’s giving back, it’s working together, it’s relationships. I have an incredible team here, which makes this such a special place.”

Wilmot (left) and Bill Wagner circa 2009.

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F LOW STATE By Steven Uhles Golf photos courtesy of Heritage Classic Foundation

ometimes, art and artist become so closely entwined that separating scene and creator becomes an exercise in futility. Such is the case with West Fraser, an internationally recognized artist and true son of Hilton Head Island. His work, which often draws on his Lowcountry roots, is intentionally vibrant and executed in broad, painterly strokes. It draws, in equal parts, from American Expressionism, contemporary plein air painting (outdoors) and his personal belief that great art suggests, rather than depicts. Throughout his career, he has leveraged these creative ideas and ideals in various ways. Whether it is landscapes painted in situ, carefully considered moments on working waterfronts, or cityscapes that capture the essence of community, his work remains remarkable because it feels both familiar and fresh.

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If there is an anomaly, an unexpected fold, in Fraser’s body of work, it might be the series to which he contributes a single piece on an annual basis. Inspired — and recommended — by the mentor who long ago made Fraser believe life as an artist was possible, he has, once a year, painted a portrait of the most recent winner of the RBC Heritage golf tournament. Each year, the new piece is added to the collection’s special clubhouse gallery. A small golf painting, commissioned, Fraser believes, for an old issue of Sports Illustrated, hangs in his Camden, S.C., studio, illuminated by the silvery light of a northern exposure. The artist, he said, was Coby Whitmore, a renowned 20th-century painter, illustrator and race car designer who loomed large in young West Fraser’s

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island-wild boyhood. It was Whitmore, he said, who encouraged his parents to support his artistic leanings, and Whitmore, when he retired as the Heritage’s official portrait painter, who recommended Fraser for the job. It’s a tradition Fraser takes seriously. “He had a certain style that I know I can’t, and do not want to, mimic,” he says. “But I think of him every time I do one of these portraits. Because of that, more than my other work, I think it does have a certain element of illustration.” Certainly, the portraits, which portray each champion in action, bear certain stylistic flourishes distinctive to Fraser. The brushwork is bold. The sense of composition is unexpected and uncanny. But Fraser said there’s a certain looseness to the

Cour tesy of West Fraser

pieces and his approach to them that makes them feel unique across the expanse of his work. “Once a year I get to play,” he says with a laugh. “Certainly, I take it seriously, but I also get to have fun with just pure shapes and color.” He said that sense of freedom comes from the artistic relationship he has built with the tournament over the course of almost 40 years. “I’m not painting these in the hopes that someone might buy them,” he says. “I know where they are going.” That attitude and ethos of letting the work speak for itself is foundational to Fraser’s work. His style, honed through the time trials of plein air painting and refined over the course of thousands of canvases imagined and executed on easels and in studios around the world, is built on the idea that art is less about decisions and more about ideas. Singling out a nautical painting of a fully rigged shrimp boat in dry

OPENING IMAGE: 2010 RBC Heritage Champion Jim Furyk. ABOVE: Charisma, 2026. RIGHT: 2023 RBC Heritage Champion Scottie Scheffler.

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Cour tesy of West Fraser

dock behind a well-worn truck, Fraser explains decisions that inform the image. He ensured, for instance, that the rigging was accurate to the methods employed by Carolina shrimp fleets, but also depicted with loose strokes that allow the eye to fill in the blanks. The blocks the lines hang from, for example, are really nothing more than short stabs of light, and yet tell an entire story of function, wear and history. “The way I’ve approached my career is I try to let my own personality and perspective out on the canvas,” he explains. “I don’t preconceive, and every painting I take on is a new slate. I’m a very intuitive kind of painter, and that means just letting things kind of flow.”

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LEFT: 2022 RBC Heritage Champion Jordan Spieth. ABOVE: Gentle Flow, 2025.

That approach to painting, Fraser explained, allows him, as an artist, to employ — and discard — the traditional tools of the trade at will. He said that while many of his paintings, and his landscapes in particular, are drawn from specific places and spaces, his approach to them is more speculative than might be imagined. He said that while he does refer to sketches, memory and photographs taken with his phone, he sees those as elements that guide him, but not necessarily the image emerging on the canvas. “They are really just to keep me going and perhaps help me with specific elements that I want to create in a composition,” he says. “But when I paint a picture, I want the viewer to stand in front of it and feel like they are in a world that I have imagined and created. I want them to stand in front of a painting and believe.” A lot of that approach, he said, stems from his relationship with Whitmore. He said his mentor didn’t teach him technique but imparted deep and meaningful wisdom, nonetheless, that great paintings often succeed because of things intentionally left out and moments of happenstance — the occasional mistake or unintended mark — that are allowed to become part of the process.

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Cour tesy of West Fraser

“That’s probably the most important lesson he gave me,” he says quietly. “You only put in what is required, and you leave what works. The painting will tell you what that is.” For Fraser, painting is about being open to those moments of inspiration and acting on them when they occur. For him, cultivating inspiration is as much a part of his practice as applying paint to canvas. He said he reads, explores the natural world and, while not an intuitive gardener, spends time with his fingers in the dirt. It is all, he explained, part of his creative process. “I like to try and create a world,” he says, motioning to the pictures, books and collected ephemera that decorate and define his working space. “That’s what I’m doing here, creating my own little world.” He places a hand on the corner of a large wooden easel. “And I’ve been pretty lucky,” he says, looking at an asyet-unfinished landscape. “I’ve been lucky because I’ve been able to create a world about 2,000 times.”

LEFT: 2011 RBC Heritage Champion Brandt Snedeker. ABOVE: Only Yesterday, 2025.

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For the LOVE OF DYE By Chris Gay | Photos courtesy of The Sea Pines Resort/Bill Hornstein

AT THE CONCLUSION of the 2025 RBC Heritage, Harbour Town Golf Links shut down for six months for some necessary renovation work. The result? One of the PGA TOUR’s top venues is better than ever.

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When the 58th edition of the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing begins with the first round on April 16, golfers and patrons alike will see a slightly different, and improved, course inside The Sea Pines Resort. Who better to help with the restoration than Davis Love III, the five-time winner of the RBC Heritage? Davis attended the first event with his father in 1969. Love served as a playerconsultant, while his Love Golf Design team worked alongside MacCurrach Golf Construction, Jon Wright (head golf superintendent at Harbour Town), Jon Farrell (director of sports operations), and the Riverstone Group, which owns The Sea Pines Resort, per Golf Course Architecture. “From the beginning of the project,” Love shared on the website, “we were committed to protecting the strategy and integrity of Pete’s design.”

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Harbour Town Golf Links, the famous golf course with the redand-white lighthouse behind the 18th green, was designed by famed golf architect Pete Dye, his wife, Alice, and Jack Nicklaus in 1967. Dye, who designed more than 200 golf courses, including the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course, Kiawah Island Golf Course and Whistling Straits, created his masterpiece at the southwestern end of Hilton Head Island. Harbour Town is a par71 layout that stretches 7,099 from the tips. The course, short by today’s PGA TOUR standards, defends itself well. Harbour Town, with several holes lined by a variety of overhanging trees, remains a demanding test of shotmaking ability, with its small, firm greens helping to protect par for tour professionals and the average golfer alike. In 2024, the RBC Heritage became a Signature Event on the PGA TOUR, offering a $20 million purse and a $3.5 million check to the winner. Positioned on the schedule the week after the Masters Tournament, the RBC Heritage no longer offered an off week for many top golfers. In 2024, world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler won the Masters Tournament and its Green Jacket before claiming the RBC Heritage’s plaid jacket a week later. With the added spotlight on Harbour Town Golf Links, the course underwent more than a minor facelift in 2025. According to golfcourseindustry.com, Harbour

Town’s renovation went beyond infrastructure work, which included drainage improvements and the removal of asphalt cart paths. Every green, bunker and bulkhead were rebuilt. Before the course closed last May, Farrell, who has worked at Sea Pines since 1989, said in a press release, “Everyone at The Sea Pines Resort is committed to honoring the legacy of Pete Dye’s design. We will protect the shot values, both long and short, that have come to define Harbour Town Golf Links for nearly six decades.” Through the years, several greens lost some of their putting surfaces. With the renovation, the greens at Nos. 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 17 were enlarged. At the par-5 No. 15, the green was redesigned to offer additional pin placements. At the par-5 No. 2, new bunkers were added to toughen the hole — a fairway bunker was lengthened to force golfers to hit more precise drives. Any shots through the green now have a chance to find sand in the back bunker. A unique design element took place at the par-5 No. 5. While the green was lowered by 16 inches, a live oak tree was replanted 18 feet closer to the fairway, moving it to the left and making approach shots to the right side of the green even tighter. In keeping with Dye’s original design, the restoration team brought back 11 stacked sod, or revetted, bunkers with steep walls.

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These bunkers are more prominent in the United Kingdom and Scotland, and they were in the original Harbour Town design in 1969. However, they weren’t maintainable then. “It’s still the original, honest Pete Dye strategy,” Love told golfcoursearchitecture.net. “There’s less sand around the green at 7; the dirt is a little higher around the boards at 13. The pot bunker at 14 may not be as hard as it was, while the bunker at 16 looks a little different from what

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Pete built. We were able to refer to lots of photographs and videos of the early days, and we can add back some of what we see in those old pictures. “We recently talked to a foursome of members playing 14. At that hole, almost all average golfers avoid the pot bunker long left. But if you want to get on the green on Sunday of the tournament when the pin is way back, you must challenge it, and if you pull your shot, it’s a significant penalty. That’s what Pete intended.”

Ones to WATCH By Johnathan McGinty

Since being named a signature event on the PGA TOUR, the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing has attracted some of the top players in golf seeking their opportunity to don the iconic plaid jacket. This year’s field is no exception with FedEx Cup winners and Major champions eager to tee it up. Here a few of our picks to be crowned the winner on Sunday.

AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB

Official World Golf Rankings as of March 16, 2026

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1Scottie

Scheffler Well, these days what list doesn’t start and end with Scottie Scheffler? Through the PGA TOUR’s West Coast Swing, the world’s best player already has one win under his belt this year at the American Express Championship and, just to keep things interesting for all of us, moved past sluggish first rounds in the WM Open and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with stellar final rounds that garnered him Top Five finishes. In 2025, Scheffler notched six more wins, including The PGA Championship and The Open Championship. Even when the No. 1 golfer in the world wasn’t hoisting a trophy, he was still in the mix, making the cut in every tournament he played and finishing in the top 10 17 times in 20 starts.

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O N E S T O W AT C H

It took Cameron Young six years to break through and win his first PGA TOUR event in 2025 when he captured the Wyndham Championship. It took less than a year after that win for him to take home one of the game’s top prizes when he won the prestigious THE PLAYERS Championship on the 72nd hole. Young’s become a fixture on Ryder Cup and President’s Cup teams for the U.S., and he’s poised for a breakout season.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS/GERALD HERBERT

Cameron Young

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O N E S T O W AT C H

Ludvig Åberg

ASSOCIATED PRESS/MIKE EGERTON

If you tried to build the ideal golfer in a lab, Ludvig Aberg would be it. A smooth swinging prodigy, Aberg is seeking his big breakout, and he came close after leading THE PLAYERS Championship heading into the back nine on Sunday before putting a pair of balls into the water. Still, Aberg’s got the talent to take home multiple Majors and emerge as the game’s next big star.

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O N E S T O W AT C H

Jordan Spieth

associated press/andrew lee

Golf fans around the world keep waiting for the Jordan Spieth of old to show up, and to kick off 2026 he’s given us a few glimpses here and there. He opened with a Top 25 finish at the Sony Open before putting his name on the leaderboard at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am before fading back to finish at -13. Still, those flashes of brilliance give fans hope that he’ll regain the form that resulted in 13 PGA TOUR wins, including the 2022 RBC Heritage.

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O N E S T O W AT C H

10 CHRIS GOTTERUP X

Chris Gotterup Chris Gotterup made himself the story of the first few weeks of the 2026 PGA TOUR season, claiming wins at the Sony Open and the WM Phoenix Open. The 26-year-old Marylander quickly ascended to the top of the FedEx Cup points to start the season, cracking the Top 10 in Official World Golf Rankings in the process. Heading into the week at Hilton Head Island, there are few players finding such consistent form as Gotterup.

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O N E S T O W AT C H

After going nearly three years without notching a victory, Collin Morikawa broke through in a big way with a convincing win in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, tracking down Akshay Bhatia on the final day. It ended a streak of close calls and near misses for the two-time Major champion, which included a pair of second place finishes and four Top 10s in 2025. Now, with a win under his belt, Morikawa seeks to regain the form that made him the third-youngest player to win a PGA Championship in 2020.

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AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB

Collin Morikawa

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O N E S T O W AT C H

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The lefty with a smooth swing, Akshay Bhatia has positioned himself as a fixture on the leaderboards to start the 2026 PGA TOUR season. The winner of this year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, he’s already tallied a handful of Top 10 finishes this year through the PGA TOUR’s West Coast Swing before punctuating the start of the season with a thrilling win at Bay Hill. Bhatia has been knocking on the door of a big breakthrough for the past few months and his game is wellsuited for the setup at Harbour Town to make that a reality.

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AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB

Akshay Bhatia

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2025 Recap Thomas Returns to

HIS WINNING WAYS By Joe VanHoose | Photos Courtesy of Heritage Classic Foundation

ENTERING THE 2025 RBC HERITAGE Presented by Boeing at Harbour Town Golf Links, Justin Thomas had not won a PGA TOUR event in almost three years. Walking up to the green on the final hole, he remarked to his caddie that he’d never made a long putt to win a tournament.

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WITH ONE PERFECT 20-foot putt, the former No. 1 golfer in the world snapped his winless streak and ascended back to his perch as one of the best players in the game. The putt was so pure, so perfect, that Thomas dropped his putter before the ball dropped into the cup in a moment of joy and exhilaration. The two-time Major champion had won his 16th PGA TOUR event and earned his first red plaid jacket. And, to be clear, he earned the victory, starting the tournament with a course record-tying round and ending with a birdie on the first playoff hole against Andrew Novak. The RBC Heritage crown was his first win since the 2022 PGA Championship and moved the Kentucky native to sixth in the Official World Golf Rankings. Since that 2022 win at Southern Hills, Thomas’ game regressed. He missed the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in 2023, and he was left off

ABOVE: Scottie Scheffler kicks off the 2025 RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing accompanied by a ceremonial cannon shot.

the Presidents Cup team in 2024. As the PGA TOUR arrived in Harbour Town, his game was back in order — he had cracked the top 10 in the World Golf Rankings again — but he still needed a victory to show he was truly back among the elite. “I think it was the last thing missing, if you will,” Thomas said afterward. “It’s hard to say, because obviously careers are so long and there’s so much up and down and lots going on that you never know what point of your career you’re at until it’s over. “At least for me, I felt like it was the last thing that I needed to do for my own well-being.” 63

Spectators don their plaid at the 2025 RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.

ROUND ONE — THURSDAY

ABOVE:

THE RBC HERITAGE PRESENTED BY BOEING OPENED with picture-perfect weather and a field of golfers looking to take advantage of the favorable conditions. Thomas made history in his first round, carding 11 birdies that enabled him to tie the course record with a 10-under 61. Six of his birdie putts were inside 10 feet, and he rolled in three more birdies from more than 30 feet away, including one on the 17th hole that put him in range of the course record. A missed birdie putt on hole No. 18 — along with a missed 4-footer for par on the 10th — were the only blemishes on an otherwise perfect day. “I’ve been playing really well, really solid. I felt good about things,” Thomas said. “I put in some really good work in the couple of 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.” Russell Henley and 2024 RBC Heritage champ Scottie Scheffler each fired 64s to tie for second, three shots off of Thomas’ pace. Wyndham Clark was alone in fourth after a first-round 65, and Brian Harman rounded out the top five with a 66. Fifty players in the 72-man field broke par on a course that yielded an average score of 69.2.

LEFT: Crowds gathered at the 18th hole during the 2025 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links course on Hilton Head Island, S.C.

ROUND TWO — FRIDAY

BELOW: A drummer from the Citadel’s Regimental Pipe Band marches in the 2025 RBC Heritage parade.

The shot of the day belonged to Kim, who drilled a 3-wood from 275 yards that rolled out to 5 feet for eagle on the par-5 fifth hole. He followed the eagle with four straight birdies around the turn. A few bogeys down the stretch slowed his momentum, but his 64 was good enough to pair him with Thomas for Saturday’s third round.

THE WINDS AROUND HARBOUR TOWN that were quiet on Thursday grew to a strong breeze on Friday, and the scores reflected the tougher conditions. After starting three shots ahead, Thomas made a pair of birdies on the back nine to salvage a 2-under 69 for a twoshot lead, his first 36-hole lead in more than four years. Si Woo Kim fought through the wind to a 64, starting off 8-under in the first 12 holes. Henley shot 68 to tie Kim for second, two shots behind. Six players were within four shots of the lead, a group that included Scheffler, who carded a quiet 1-under-par 70. Novak started his charge up the leaderboard with a 65, tying Tommy Fleetwood (66) three strokes behind Thomas.

ROUND THREE — SATURDAY KIM BACKED UP HIS round of the day on Friday with another stellar effort Saturday, in which he didn’t make a bogey until the final hole. His 5-under 66 vaulted him to the top of the RBC Heritage leaderboard at 15-under for the tournament, one shot ahead of Thomas and Novak. Kim birdied the opening two holes to immediately catch Thomas, the 36-hole leader. Right when he began to pull away, the 29-yearold South Korean came up short on the par-4 closing hole and made bogey. “I played great — only missed the last hole, so that’s not a big deal,” Kim said. “I play pretty much 35 holes, which is really decent. So, I’m not going to worry about the last hole for tomorrow. I’m in a good position. I’ve been playing good.” Thomas soldiered on to a 69, overcoming a penalty shot on the second hole and a gaffe in a water hazard on the 11th. He made a critical birdie on the 18th hole as Kim bogeyed. The two-shot swing turned a 3-stroke lead into just 1 stroke coming into Sunday’s final round. “It was huge,” Thomas said of his birdie on the 18th. “I played really well today, really solid. I just didn’t have much to show. The course is getting very difficult, very firm and fast. Yeah, it was nice to see an iron shot get up there, pinhigh and roll that putt in there. “It’s nice to finish off like that and ride that momentum into tomorrow.” Novak’s 66 on the day tied him with Thomas for second and moved him into the final pairing with Kim on Sunday. Maverick McNealy shot 64 and stood alone in fourth, two shots behind. Three shots back, Harman carded a 66 and Tommy Fleetwood made three birdies in the last six holes for a 68. Meanwhile, Scheffler stumbled on the back nine and faded to four shots off the pace with a 68. 66

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Justin Thomas tees off for his final round at the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing on Sunday, April 20, 2025.

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FINAL ROUND — SUNDAY

“I didn’t realize how much I missed winning.” - Justin Thomas

ABOVE: Golfers approach the 18th green at Harbour Town Golf Links at the 2025 RBC Heritage

associated press/Mike stewart

Presented

HOW DO YOU snap a three-year winless streak and show the PGA TOUR your game is back where it belongs? Making a 20-foot putt to win the RBC Heritage in a sudden-death playoff did the trick for Thomas. Walking up to the 18th green at Harbour Town in a playoff with Novak, Thomas mentioned to his fill-in caddie, Joe Greiner, that he had never made a putt of any length to win a tournament on the final hole. A few moments later, Thomas’ putt was in the cup and he was a winner again. “That was pretty cool,” Thomas said. “That was as fun as I thought it would be.” Thomas played bogey-free in dry, fast conditions on a demanding Harbour Town course. While other leaders wilted down the stretch, he made a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole and closed with a 3-under 68. Novak had his chance to win the

tournament outright, but his 8-foot birdie try on the 18th hole was wide left, leaving Novak with a 68 of his own and a tie with Thomas. Kim, the 54-hole leader, stumbled his way to a 3-over-par 73 and was quickly out of contention. Daniel Berger made a charge on the final day with a 6-under 65, but he could get no closer than three shots back. He tied for third at 14-under with Mackenzie Hughes (67), Harman (69) and McNealy (70). In the playoff, both players found the 18th green in two. Novak missed his birdie putt from just inside 35 feet, setting the stage for Thomas. Thomas sank his putt and let the joy wash over him, looking around at the packed grandstands on one side, the Calibogue Sound on another and his cheering family behind the 18th green. “I didn’t realize how much I missed winning,” Thomas said on the 18th green as he stood next to his wife, Jill, and baby daughter Molly.

by Boeing.

OVERCOMING

Obstacles

WEST FRASER

By Johnathan McGinty

Justin Thomas didn’t expect to have his first weekend back on the PGA TOUR to himself. The two-time Major winner and defending champion of the RBC Heritage made his return from a back injury at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Golf Club in March, understanding that his four-month layoff would result in his play being a bit rusty. 2 0 2 6 G U I D E T O T H E R B C H E R I TA G E

Justin Thomas on the 18th at Harbour Town Golf Links.

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opposite: HERITAGE CLASSIC FOUNDATION

“I DON’T FEEL LIKE I NEED TO BLOW IT UP But, even he just wasn’t AND RESTART prepared for how rusty he’d be. Thomas shot a pair of 79s in AND DO ALL the first two rounds, missing the cut in his first tournament back. THESE THINGS “I was really, really, really down and bummed Friday, and I wasn’t DIFFERENTLY.” expecting anything unbelievable by any means,” says Thomas. “There’s no scenario where I’m okay and think that it’s fine to shoot that poorly and put those kind of scores up. But, yeah, I really just needed a little bit of time to decompress, to think about it and regroup. I just need to get back to work — I don’t feel like I need to blow it up and restart and do all these things differently.” It was a disappointing return to competition for one of the game’s best players, particularly coming off a season where the University of Alabama graduate returned to his usual championship form. His performance at Harbour Town Golf Links last April put him back atop the leaderboard at one of the PGA TOUR’s Signature Events.

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Thomas bested Andrew Novak in a sudden-death playoff, sinking a 20-foot putt to snap a threeyear winless streak. Despite having thrived in pressurepacked situations from Major championships to the Ryder Cup, Thomas had never made a putt of that length to win a tournament. It capped off a bogey-free final round, punctuated by a 25-foot birdie putt at No. 16. The win propelled Thomas to another stellar season, enabling him to represent the U.S. in another Ryder Cup and work his way back into the Top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings. However, nagging pain in his hip led him to seek a microdiscectomy procedure last November to treat a herniated disc. The procedure sidelined him for four months as he focused on rehab and recovery, not rushing his return to play. “I would say the resounding thing that I heard most from everybody is [that] ‘no one’s ever come back too late,’” says Thomas. “Everybody always comes back too early. I take a lot of pride and am very proud of myself. Never once during the recovery or as I was starting to play golf and hit balls, did I push it and say, ‘Let me

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getty images/Jared C. tilton

“I’M 32 YEARS OLD. I CAN PLAY THIS SPORT COMPETITIVELY AND REALLY, REALLY WELL FOR ANOTHER 10 TO 15 YEARS WITH NO PROBLEMS ....”

“SO I JUST KEEP PLUGGING AWAY AND JUST KEEP TRYING TO GET BETTER AND NOT LET ANY KIND OF INJURY BE A HINDRANCE.”

RIGHT:

Justin Thomas

celebrates after winning the RBC Heritage, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

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associated press/Mike stewart associated press/Mike stewart

see if I can hit a 5-iron, let me see if I can hit a driver.’” “I never let myself get to that point,” he adds. “I’m 32 years old. I can play this sport competitively and really, really well for another 10 to 15 years with no problems if I just go about this how I should.” Coming off his first significant time away from the game, that dedication to playing at a higher level is central to his approach. As he returns to Hilton Head Island to defend his title, Thomas is

eager to put a disappointing first tournament behind him and set his sights on another trophy. “In the big picture, if I struggle at the beginning of the year to come back from this injury and I win a couple Majors, nobody’s going to remember that I just shot 14-over at Bay Hill, right?” Thomas says. “So I just keep plugging away and just keep trying to get better and not let any kind of injury be a hindrance.”

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P L A I D N AT I O N

PHOTOS COURTESY OF RBC HERITAGE/FACEBOOK

The RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing was crowned the PGA TOUR’s “Most Fan First Event” for 2025 due to its Southern hospitality and exceptional attendee experience. Plaid Nation is sure to be in full force again this year at Harbour Town Golf Links.

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P L A I D N AT I O N

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PA R T I N G S H OT

ASSOCIATED PRESS/MARY ANN CHASTAIN

n 2003, Davis Love III became the first golfer to win the RBC Heritage five times. His first win came in 1987 at the age of 23, making him the youngest player to win the tournament. To date, Love holds the title for the most Heritage wins.

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