The world of golf is still trying to figure out what happened during the final round of The Masters last week in Augusta. Living in a world where Rory McIlroy has a career grand slam always felt inevitable, but that it is reality after all of this time is so jarring.
There is no rest for the weary though and the PGA Tour is not only back in action this week, but they are off and running with the fifth signature event of the season at the RBC Heritage. It is always interesting to see who thrives at Hilton Head immediately following The Masters as they are all surely wondering where that game was a week priod.
Maybe Justin Thomas is asking himself those questions or perhaps he is just content with what he did. Thomas fired an opening round 61 on Thursday which was obviously incredible, but it was so good that it matched the 18-hole record at the RBC Heritage specifically.
Justin Thomas equals the RBC Heritage 18-hole scoring record with a 10-under 61 (David Frost/1994/R2, Troy Merritt/2015/R2).
Marks his sixth 61 on TOUR and first since R3 of the 2024 American Express (T3). Opened with a career-best 59 en route to winning the 2017 Sony Open in…
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) April 17, 2025
The lack of wind made for ideal scoring conditions and at the time of this writing, before the first round is even over for context, there are multiple players putting up serious scores. There is a reason that this is a signature event, after all.
While Thomas doesn’t have the results that Rory does this season he is having quite the year so far in his own right. Thursday marked his second round of 62 or better this season and he is the only player so far this year to card two of them.
It should be a fantastic tournament in Hilton Head of this pace keeps up.