Louisville native Justin Thomas continued his solid PGA Tour rookie season this past weekend.
Thomas tied for 11th-place in the RBC Heritage at the Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, S.C.
The St. Xavier High School graduate carded a collective 10-under-par 274 - which put him in a four-way tie with his good friend and recent Masters champion Jordan Spieth and two others. Jim Furyk beat Kevin Kisner in a two-hole playoff to end a victory drought of more than four years after both finished the first 72 holes with 18-under 266’s
It was Thomas’ seventh Top 25 finish (in 16 events) - and if not for a late triple-bogey he could’ve had his fifth Top 10 - and raised the 21-year-old’s earnings to $976,597 in his first full season on the PGA Tour.
Thomas, who was a state champion with the Tigers and helped the University of Alabama to the NCAA title before turning pro in 2013, played on the Web.com Tour last year. He finished fifth in the regular season and third in the Web.com Tour finals to earn his PGA Tour card for 2015.
Thomas missed the cut in his first two tournaments of the season, but since then has only missed the cut in three of the last 11 events. In only his fourth tourney of the season Thomas tied for fourth in the Sanderson Farms Championship.
This past weekend at picturesque Harbour Town, Thomas shot 70 in the first round, 67 in the second, 68 in the third and 69 in the fourth to finish at 274.
He was Mr. Consistency in the first three rounds.
Thomas’ 1-under-par first round featured four birdies and three bogeys, his 4-under second featured five birdies and one bogey while his 3-under third included a trio of birdies.
Thomas, however, had an up-and-down final round. He began with a double-bogey on the par-4 first, then reeled off six straight pars before finishing the front nine with a bang. First Thomas birdied the par-4 eighth, then he holed in from 47-feet out for an eagle on the par-4 ninth.
He began the back nine with three consecutive pars before birdieing the par-4 13th. On the next hole, though, Thomas carded a triple-bogey on the par-3 14th. He bounced back, however, with birdies on three of the final four holes to close out his round.
This week Thomas, who turns 22 on April 29, will play in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which will take place Thursday through Sunday, at the TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La.
Photo courtesy justinthomasgolf.com
