Justin Thomas won his 16th PGA Tour event at the RBC Heritage on Sunday evening.
It had been almost three years since his last victory, the 2022 PGA Championship, so he was understandably emotional
He led the tournament after 18 and 36 holes, respectively, before Si Woo Kim overtook him on Saturday.
But the South Korean faded away in the final round, and it came down to Thomas and Andrew Novak for the win.
The American pair contested a playoff on the 18th hole at Harbour Town Golf Links, and Thomas’ birdie sealed the deal.
Justin Thomas gives verdict on Andrew Novak after RBC Heritage
Many golf fans won’t have known Novak’s name before the RBC Heritage, but he’s actually having an impressive season on the PGA Tour.
He finished joint third at the Valero Texas Open, before The Masters, and third also at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year.
With his latest close call, the 30-year-old has now moved up to 34th in the Official World Golf Ranking, ahead of Tony Finau and Jordan Spieth.
Thomas shared his thoughts on Novak after their playoff battle, including a funny story about a practice round they played together.
He told the media: “No, but funny enough, Joe [Greiner] said in the playoff, ‘I’ve never been out with Andrew, have you?’ I was like, ‘I actually have.’ He’s like, ‘When was that?’
“I was like, ‘Well, I played a practice round at the Travelers a couple of years ago.’ Like I wanted to just play the back nine and I got to 10 tee and it was in the afternoon and I don’t want to be jumping in front of anybody or whatever it is, so it’s like him and Ben Griffin were playing, and I was like, ‘Can I just join you guys?’
“So I played the back nine with them, and they were having some kind of match, and all of a sudden they’re talking, and Andrew shot 59 that day. So I told Joe. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ve played with him once and he shot 59 at TPC River Highlands.’
“Yeah, he’s obviously very good. So yes, that was my experience, and you could see in the shot he hit into 18, when he gets going, he’s going.
