When Justin Thomas won the 2022 PGA Championship, it marked his second major championship and 15th win on the PGA Tour. He was a top player in the world and, surely, many more victories would follow. 

But they didn’t. Not just in major tournaments – where he has struggled mightily since that win, with five missed cuts since that 2022 PGA Championship victory – but Thomas hadn’t won a single PGA Tour tournament since. Until Sunday. 

Thomas tied the course record at Harbour Town with a 61 on Thursday to jump to a lead at the RBC Heritage. He carried that lead through the second but fell a shot out of the lead heading into Sunday’s final round. Part of the reason was because Thomas self-imposed a one-stroke penalty for slightly moving his ball prior to hitting a shot during the third round. 

Thomas was moving shells and pebbles away from his ball in a waste bunker, which is legal, but one of the shells was close enough to his ball that it moved. Even though no one saw the ball move, except Thomas, and it wasn’t caught on camera, Thomas came clean to rules officials that the ball moved. 

He accepted his penalty with grace, but it nearly cost him the tournament. Perhaps, though, the golf gods were on his side thanks to his incredible display of honesty and integrity. 

Thomas played in the penultimate pairing with Maverick McNealy, while Andrew Novak (who was tied with Thomas entering Sunday) and Si Woo Kim (who led both by one shot) comprised the final group. 

While other players, like world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, were making bogeys and hitting the ball in the water, Thomas played the steadiest round of anyone at Harbour Town on Sunday. He shot a three-under 68 without making a single bogey. 

Andrew Novak took a slightly different route, but ended up in the same place. Novak made two bogeys but also five birdies to shoot an identical 68 and send the pair into a playoff. Kim wasn’t much of a factor, shooting a 74. 

On the first playoff hole, Thomas had a putt to win the tournament. And he didn’t waste the opportunity. 

Since Thomas’ last victory, he’s gotten married and become a father. He became emotional talking about the victory with his wife and infant daughter by his side. 

Good for JT. He played a great tournament, showed incredible integrity, and he deserved to win. Sometimes, life is fair.