Justin Thomas fired off a 61 to start his RBC Heritage and unsurprisingly holds the first-round lead. For what it’s worth it was tied for the best 18-hole scoring record at the RBC, but it is the lowest opening-round score ever (Cam Smith had a 62 in 2021).
It is never easy to go wire-to-wire in a sport where you are tasked with doing so, and we are deep enough in the PGA Tour season that we have a legitimate sample size to work with on some things… including this very one.
Through 16 starts on Tour this season no player has successfully won after holding the opening round lead and JT himself has failed to do so since the 2019 BMW Championship.
Overall Thomas is 4 for 11 on converting this type of lead into an eventual victory. While the last one that he cashed in on was in 2019 his last opening round lead period was the 2024 Genesis Scottish Open. He ultimately finished tied for 62nd.
If Thomas is going to go on to win this weekend then he is going to have to make it through some stiff competition to do so. Russell Henley, winner of another signature event this season in the API, and Scottie Scheffler, who is still seeking his first win of the season, are both three strokes back. Wyndham Clark, who finished T3 in the event last year, is one more behind them. Justin Rose is just two strokes back of there as he is still playing well following his playoff loss to Rory McIlroy in last week’s Masters.
The point is… the golf is pretty good, folks.
