Justin Thomas makes two late birdies to restore his lead at Hilton Head

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Justin Thomas made a pair of birdies on the crusty, breezy back nine at Harbour Town to salvage a 2-under 69 for a two-shot lead Friday at the RBC Heritage, his first 36-hole lead in more than four years. Thomas is winless since the 2022 PGA Championship and is weary of the topic. He also knows there's a long way to go on a course that demands precision while allowing a low score. Si Woo Kim had one of those low scores, a blistering start that had him at 8 under through 12 holes until he settled for a 64. He was two shots behind, along with Russell Henley (68). Six players were within four shots of the lead, a group that includes defending champion Scottie Scheffler, who didn't have much go right in his round of 70. On the scoring pins, he was out of position. He was in the fairway for the tucked pins. There wasn't as many birdie opportunities, but he's still right in the mix. Andrew Novak (65) and Tommy Fleetwood (66) were three behind. It was shaping up to be a wide-open weekend at a tournament where no one seems to stress too much coming a week after the Masters. Not everyone, of course. The mystery Friday were the four golf grips — the shaft snapped in half — outside the scoring trailer. Thomas was in a far better mood, especially the end of the round. One of those tough pins was on the 13th, just to the right of steep bunker framed by railroad ties. He played wedge beautifully to the wide front of the green and holed a 15-foot putt. Far more impressive was the par-5 15th, where Thomas had 287 yards with one towering tree that always seems to get in the way. He prefers to hit a 5-wood for a little more altitude. He hammered a 3-wood onto the green to set up a two-putt birdie, and finished with three pars. The shot on No. 15 also illustrated the adjustments he's making with a fill-in caddie, Joe Greiner, as his regular looper Matt Minister recovers from a back injury. "He's still getting used to everything as much as I am," Thomas said. "We were talking about the shot and trying to hit it right at the green. The tree was kind of in the way. I was like, 'I feel like it's a good 3-wood number.' And he was like, 'Yeah.' "Then after I hit it, he goes, 'I'm so glad you said that because I thought it was a perfect cut 3-wood, but I didn't want to say that.' That's some of the funny adjustments and things we're working with." This doesn't feel like a working vacation for Kim because he missed out on the Masters for the first time since 2016, his rookie year on the PGA Tour. "I got so much frustrated last week watching Masters, but somehow I got to move on. So I'm just trying to focus this week," Kim said. He got everyone's attention with his start. The signature moment was his 3-wood from 275 yards that rolled out to 5 feet for eagle on the par-5 fifth hole. And then he ran off four straight birdies around the turn starting on the short par-4 ninth, three of the putts inside 8 feet, and a 15-footer on the 11th. He couldn't sustain the momentum, but gets into the final group with Thomas on the weekend. Scheffler was slowed by a mud ball on the par-5 fifth that put him out of position, and a three-putt that gave him a bogey; and hitting a tree on the eighth that led to another bogey. He finished with nine pars and a little perspective. "Just little stuff like that that can turn your day the wrong way," he said. "I fought pretty hard today and hung in there well to be four back on the weekend." Scheffler's season was delayed a month by his hand injury and he's still looking for his first win. Thomas last won at Southern Hills in the 2022 PGA Championship, though his game has turned enough in the right direction that he is No. 8 in the world ranking. "The majority of it has just been pressing and trying too hard," he said of his drought. "I almost feel like I'm kind of past the point where fortunately you all have stopped asked me — which is nice — but I would also prefer to get that over with. "Something I feel like I did so well there for a couple of years is I just let tournaments come to me and I just trusted my ability," he said. "That's really been my key this week is I'm just trying to really trust my game and commit to what I'm doing."