There was heartbreak and triumph in the same breath once again on the PGA Tour as another playoff, this time between Justin Thomas and Andrew Novak, decided a big event.
Thomas and Novak played out a playoff hole at Harbour Town Links as they followed in the footsteps of Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose at The Masters a week prior.
Novak – who has yet to win on the PGA Tour in nearly 100 starts – managed to reel Thomas in during the 18 holes but in the playoff, saw the two-time major winner show his class with a stunning putt from 25 feet to win.
For Novak, who is not used to getting over the line just yet, it will all aide the experience for him going forward.
Indeed, Novak even had a chance to win on 18 before making a poor putt to win and allow the playoff.
And according to Novak himself, the sight of seeing Thomas gift him a chance did indeed make him feel the pressure.
Andrew Novak describes the pressure of playing against Justin Thomas
Being a player who has never won and trying to see off a major winner who is one of the biggest names in the sport was never going to be easy for Novak.
And speaking to the media after his defeat, Novak admitting he was feeling the nerves when Thomas missed his putt on 18.
“Not so much as far as emotions. I’m not as frustrated as I thought I would be. I feel like I did a lot of good things. I’m pretty proud of putting myself in that position when I really felt like I wasn’t swinging it that great this week, the fact that I was able to scrap out almost a win with not really swinging my best. The irons were giving me issues at times,” Novak explained about his round in general.
“I hit a few good ones down the stretch, which was cool, because with the pressure on it usually gets tougher, and I was still able to pull off some shots. I was happy to see that. I thought I was a little more comfortable down the stretch than maybe I have been in the past.
“Justin just went out and won it. There’s nothing you can really do about it.”
Speaking specifically on the chance to win in the regulation holes, Novak then conceded that watching Thomas miss a putt for birdie on 18 did indeed make him ‘feel it’.
“Yeah, at times, a little bit. I was definitely feeling it,” he admitted. “I would say 18 I was definitely feeling it. Kind of once I saw Justin miss and I knew I had a chance, put a good swing on it, then had a good look with the putt and I just misread it. I thought I executed pretty well.”
What Justin Thomas said to his caddie as he won the RBC Heritage
Interestingly this week for Justin Thomas, he had the former caddie of Max Homa, Joe Grenier, on his bag.
Grenier had moved on from Homa after the American was struggling to put a run together although his woes continued this week in Harbour Town without Grenier.
And speaking of Grenier, Thomas revealed a chat they had heading up 18 that helped calm him.
“It is so hard to force the issue on a course like this. It is so firm and so fast. It was so fun to play. I am really proud of myself today, how patient I was, and I just plotted my way around. I said to Joe coming up 18, I have never made a putt to win a tournament before of length. A bit fortunate to have a lot of tap ins but I have never made a putt. It was pretty cool. It was as fun as I thought it would be,” Thomas said.
With Thomas now at 16 PGA Tour wins and playing well in 2025, he will have one eye on making it three major wins this season.
For now, though, he will simply celebrate winning for the first time since 2022 and finally, finally, getting over the line.
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