Hilton Head Island, S.C. — Justin Thomas was able to tie the course record at 10 under 61 to lead the RBC legacy with 11 birdies in Harbortown on Thursday.
The hit he had all day was an 8 iron that fell near the pin and 5 feet away. He missed birdie putt, one of the few opportunities he didn’t convert.
In addition to the course of most wind, mint conditions and RBC heritage, there was little to complain about the warm sun, an ideal place to decompress from the Masters’ busy week.
Defending champion Scotty Scheffler is fourth in the Masters, but in a round that looks easy in 64 rounds, there was little stress in Harbortown.
“I never say golf is easy. Golf is tough,” Schaeffler said with a laugh.
However, he was positioned only once from the tee, and not once more when he lengthened the green and saved pars either. Otherwise, he putts on the other 16 holes and changed enough chances for a poorly-looking start for Thomas, who has the lowest score in Harbortown for the first time in a decade.
Bayhill winner Russell Henry also scored 64, while Wyndham Clark shot another shot at 65. The 66 group included former Hilton head winners Matt Fitzpatrick and Gary Woodland.
50 players on the 72 field defeated par on a course that produced an average score of 69.2
“If we compared last week’s four rounds with today’s four rounds, I felt that today’s par scrambling would be a less stressful golf,” Schaeffler said. “A lot of the things I had to do last week felt like I didn’t need to do today to get a good score, and although the golf course is clearly a little different, I was in most of the position I am today.
“Overall, yeah, I’d say a stress-free day.”
Thomas hasn’t won since winning his second PGA Championship title in 2022, but his game tends to be well-positioned in the right direction, being eighth in the world. The Masters were disappointed – 70 in the 36th tie, and 13 shots not below 13 shots, but he did a good job with Hilton’s clever two days and rewarded it.
Six of his birdie putts were within 10 feet, and he threw three birdies from a 35 feet range. One of them was within the course record range on hole 17.
He thought he had it on that 8 iron and front pin on the 18th. He also missed a 4-foot putt on the 10th.
“I’m really doing well, I’m really solid. I feel better about things,” Thomas said. “Last week didn’t go well. I did a really good job in the few days that led to my start today. I felt prepared.
Among those who later played as a breeze, and just a breeze — was started picking up by Justin Rose, who lost last week in the playoffs. He bursieed the last two holes and joined the group at 67, including Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantray and Tommy Fleetwood.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy decided to skip this signing event even before the Masters began. Hilton Head wasn’t the course he felt suited to him with its close tree-lined paths.
Thomas felt differently.
“I love it. We want to play more places like that,” Thomas said. “I think more architects need to design a place like this. I think it’s in a test of time. Especially if you keep on this weather and these fairways are solid, the greens are already solid – that’s all we want by the end of the week.”
He got everything he wanted at the beginning of the week – except for that birdie putt on the 18th –