Justin Thomas remains in the hunt for his first PGA Tour title in nearly three years after a third-round 69 at the RBC Heritage – but the day could have been even better for the American
Justin Thomas found himself in a muddy situation after attempting to play a golf shot from the water at the RBC Heritage.
Thomas is still in the running to end his three-year drought for a PGA Tour title after finishing with a round of 69 on Saturday. The two-time major champion made four birdies and two bogeys, putting him at 14-under, just one shot behind leader Si Woo Kim. Scottie Scheffler is also close behind, only three shots off the lead, after his incident with Rory McIlroy at the Masters.
One of Thomas’ bogeys occurred on the 11th hole when his ball landed just inside the water. Instead of taking a drop, he decided to play the ball out of the water. His attempt resulted in the ball going about 10 yards back onto the grass, leaving him covered in muddy water.
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“Didn’t really seem worth it after all that,” Thomas joked after assessing his muddy state. Caddie Joe Grenier handed him a towel to clean up before continuing the round.
When asked about the incident during a chat with reporters on Saturday, Thomas said: “It really was, I felt like, my only bad swing of the day. I thought I hit it so bad that it was going to be short of the water, and it just got in there.
“Usually when you can see the ball like that, at least from past watching experience, it’s not too difficult to get it out as long as you kind of accelerate through. I said to Joe after the fact, I don’t know if I’ve actually ever hit one out of the water.
“So I definitely wasn’t going to say that before hand. I think I got a little too deep and went like right under it in the water and mud and whatnot. Just kind of pushed it out. Joe said I smell like a wet dog after that, so it was very nice of him.”
Thomas is keen to end his drought this week. Despite not tasting victory since clinching his second PGA Championship title in May 2022, he remains one of the most consistent players on the PGA Tour and is at No. 8 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).
Thomas finished as the runner-up at both the Valspar Championship and The American Express earlier this year, and he also achieved a top-10 finish at the Waste Management Phoenix Open (tied sixth).
“It was huge,” Thomas commented when asked about his birdie on the 18th on Saturday. “I felt like I played — I played really well today, really solid. Just didn’t have much to show. The course is getting very difficult, very firm and fast. We just were very smart. It felt like kind of tried to take advantage of some scoring clubs or opportunities when we had them.
“This isn’t a place that you can really force it, I think, when it gets in this kind of condition. Yeah, it was nice to see an iron shot get up there pin high and roll that putt in there. It was a great read by Joe. So it’s nice to finish off like that and ride that momentum into tomorrow.”
