Thomas ends drought with Heritage victory

The Associated Press

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Justin Thomas had one more hurdle to prove his game was back where he felt it belonged, and he cleared it Sunday in the RBC Heritage with the longest putt he ever made to win.

Walking up to the 18th green at Harbour Town in a playoff with Andrew Novak, Thomas remarked to fill-in caddie Joe Greiner that he had never made a putt of any length to win on the final hole. He had just outside 20 feet.

The putt was so pure, Thomas dropped his putter before the ball disappeared into the cup, setting off pure joy at ending nearly three years without a win.

“That was pretty cool,” he said. “That was as fun as I thought it would be.”

Thomas played bogey-free in dry, fast conditions on a course that demanded precision, making a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole and closing with a 3-under 68.

Maybe the most nervous moment came in the scoring trailer as Thomas watched Novak stand over an 8-foot putt for the win. The birdie putt was left all the way, and Novak — who made a big birdie of his own on the 16th — had a 68 to join him at 17-under 267.

In the playoff, Novak missed from just inside 35 feet, setting the stage for Thomas. He felt pure joy as he looked around at the packed grandstands on one side, the Calibogue Sound on another and his family cheering him on behind the 18th green.

“I didn’t realize how much I missed winning,” Thomas said on the 18th green as he stood next to wife Jill and 5-month-old daughter Molly.

Jay Sigel dies

BERWYN, Pa. — Jay Sigel, who was widely viewed as America’s best amateur since Bobby Jones, died of pancreatic cancer, the U.S. Golf Association said Sunday.

The USGA said Sigel died Saturday at age 81. Along with his two U.S. Amateur titles and three U.S. Mid-Amateur victories, Sigel played in nine Walker Cup matches, twice as a playing captain.

Sigel was low amateur in the Masters three times, and once each at the U.S. Open and British Open during his sterling career.

His intention was to turn pro when he starred at Wake Forest on an Arnold Palmer scholarship. But his left hand went through a pane window on a swinging door that required 70 stitches. Sigel decided to remain amateur and started a successful insurance business.

“I always thought things happen for a reason,” Sigel once said. “The hand injury was the best thing to happen to me.”

He won his first U.S. Amateur in 1982, and the following year became the first player to win the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Mid-Amateur — for players at least 25 years old — in the same season. He also captured some of the nation’s most prestigious titles, such as the Sunnehanna Amateur, the Northeast Amateur and the Porter Cup.

Sigel joined the PGA Tour Champions when he turned 50 and won eight times, though his legacy was amateur golf.

Elsewhere:

n Garrick Higgo took advantage of Joel Dahmen’s late meltdown to win the windy Corales Puntacana Championship for his second PGA Tour victory.

n Wu Ashun made five birdies on the back nine for a 6-under 65 that enabled him to overcome a four-shot deficit in the final round and win the China Open for the second time.

n Ingrid Lindblad won the LPGA JM Eagle LA Championship by one stroke over Akie Iwai.