Justin Thomas made a single bogey at the par-4 10th and closed with a 10-under 61, equaling the the 18-hole scoring record, to take a three-shot lead at the RBC Heritage.
“I just played really solid. I feel like I didn’t do anything crazy. I just drove the ball well, which is very, very important out here, and I felt like it was just one of those days I put the ball in a spot that I had a lot of good numbers,” said Thomas. “I had a lot of kind of full wedges to where — although you have to be a little conservative at times out here, I felt like they were kind of pins and angles and everything that I could be a little aggressive and just kind of got rolling with it.
“I’ve been playing really well, really solid. Felt good about things. I just didn’t play well last week [at The Masters]. Put some really good work in I felt like the couple days leading into the start today, and I felt prepared. It was just about going out and doing it, and it was nice to do so.”
This was his sixth 61 on the PGA Tour and falls two shy of his career-low round 59 in the first round of the 2017 Sony Open in Hawaii.
Thomas is making his 250th start on Tour and 59th since the last of his 15 victories at the 2022 PGA Championship.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler opened with a bogey-free 64, his 13th straight under-par opening round, for a share of second place at 7-under. He is seeking to become the first player to successfully defend a title at the RBC Heritage since Boo Weekley in 2008.
He leads the field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (5.283) and Proximity to the hole (21’7”).
This is Scheffler’s eighth start of the 2025 season, with top-25 finishes in each start. His best finish was T2 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
Russell Henley fired his best score in 35 rounds at Harbour Town Golf Links for his share of second place. He now has eight straight under-par rounds at the event and leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting (3.038).
In fourth place at 6-under, Wyndham Clark closed with a bogey-free 65.
Brian Campbell made one bogey at the par-4 5th for a share of fifth place at 5-under alongside J.J. Spaun, Gary Woodland and Brian Harman who remained bogey-free with Woodland making an eagle at the par-5 15th and Harman at the par -5 2nd as well as a bogey at the par-4 18th.
2023 champion Matt Fitzpatrick of England, the only non-American in the top-5, eagled the par-5 2nd for his bogey-free 66.
Related: The Lost Major: Golfers to win three legs of the career Grand Slam
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Thomas | -10 | 61 |
| T2 | Russell Henley | -7 | 64 |
| T2 | Scottie Scheffler | -7 | 64 |
| 4 | Wyndham Clark | -6 | 65 |
| T5 | Brian Campbell | -5 | 66 |
| T5 | Matt Fitzpatrick | -5 | 66 |
| T5 | J.J. Spaun | -5 | 66 |
| T5 | Gary Woodland | -5 | 66 |
| T5 | Brian Harman | -5 | 66 |
| T10 | Sami Valimaki | -4 | 67 |
| T10 | Matt Kuchar | -4 | 67 |
| T10 | Keegan Bradley | -4 | 67 |
| T10 | Eric Cole | -4 | 67 |
| T10 | Patrick Cantlay | -4 | 67 |
| T10 | Tommy Fleetwood | -4 | 67 |
| T10 | Jordan Spieth | -4 | 67 |
| T10 | Ryan Gerard | -4 | 67 |
| T10 | Stephan Jaeger | -4 | 67 |
| T10 | Max Greyserman | -4 | 67 |
| T10 | Justin Rose | -4 | 67 |
| T21 | Denny McCarthy | -3 | 68 |
| T21 | Akshay Bhatia | -3 | 68 |
| T21 | Adam Scott | -3 | 68 |
| T21 | Si Woo Kim | -3 | 68 |
| T21 | Shane Lowry | -3 | 68 |
| T21 | Lucas Glover | -3 | 68 |
| T21 | Mackenzie Hughes | -3 | 68 |
| T21 | J.T. Poston | -3 | 68 |
| T21 | Jason Day | -3 | 68 |
| T21 | Andrew Novak | -3 | 68 |
| T31 | Bud Cauley | -2 | 69 |
| T31 | Sam Burns | -2 | 69 |
| T31 | Sungjae Im | -2 | 69 |
| T31 | Viktor Hovland | -2 | 69 |
| T31 | Ludvig Åberg | -2 | 69 |
| T31 | Xander Schauffele | -2 | 69 |
| T31 | Collin Morikawa | -2 | 69 |
| T38 | Nick Taylor | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Sam Stevens | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Max Homa | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Sepp Straka | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Tom Hoge | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Corey Conners | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Daniel Berger | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Harris English | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Cameron Young | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Aaron Rai | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Cam Davis | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Maverick McNealy | -1 | 70 |
| T51 | Davis Thompson | Par | 71 |
| T51 | Matthieu Pavon | Par | 71 |
| T51 | Karl Vilips | Par | 71 |
| T51 | Jacob Bridgeman | Par | 71 |
| T51 | Ryo Hisatsune | Par | 71 |
| T51 | Robert MacIntyre | Par | 71 |
| T51 | Chris Kirk | Par | 71 |
| T51 | Austin Eckroat | Par | 71 |
| T51 | Billy Horschel | Par | 71 |
| T51 | Michael Kim | Par | 71 |
| T61 | Adam Hadwin | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Rickie Fowler | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Will Zalatoris | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Tony Finau | +1 | 72 |
| T61 | Min Woo Lee | +1 | 72 |
| T66 | Taylor Pendrith | +2 | 73 |
| T66 | Thomas Detry | +2 | 73 |
| 68 | Byeong Hun An | +3 | 74 |
| T69 | Patrick Rodgers | +4 | 75 |
| T69 | Sahith Theegala | +4 | 75 |
| 71 | Joe Highsmith | +6 | 77 |
| 72 | Nick Dunlap | +7 | 78 |
