HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA | In the immediate aftermath of his sudden-death playoff loss to Justin Thomas on the first extra hole at the RBC Heritage Sunday afternoon, Andrew Novak stood and watched the winner’s celebration.
It came so close to ending differently.
A few minutes earlier, Novak, chasing his first PGA Tour victory and playing in front of a noisy collection of friends and family from the Carolinas and Georgia where his roots run deep, had leaned over an 8-foot putt to win on the 72nd hole but a misread sent Thomas and him back to the 18th tee to do it all over again.
Thomas’ ensuing 21-foot birdie putt in the playoff left Novak to blend the sudden disappointment with the big-picture satisfaction of what he had achieved without winning the tartan jacket.
“I’m not as frustrated as I thought I would be. I feel like I did a lot of good things,” said Novak, who shot 68 on Sunday to finish at 17-under par 267.
“I’m pretty proud of putting myself in that position when I really felt like I wasn’t swinging it that great this week, the fact that I was able to scrap out almost a win with not really swinging my best.”
“I need to go out there and get a win at some point, but all of these finishes are great. I have big goals for the year.”
Andrew Novak
The 30-year-old Novak has transformed his place on the PGA Tour this year. With a pair of third-place finishes before his first tour appearance at Harbour Town, Novak – who plays quickly and aggressively – has become a familiar name on leaderboards.
Getting comfortable in moments like Sunday afternoon remains a work in progress.
“I was definitely feeling it. I would say 18 [in regulation] I was definitely feeling it,” Novak said.
Novak fought his swing at times in the final round, including three straight tee shots that caromed off trees starting at the par-4 11th. He parred all three holes to keep himself in the race.
Trailing Thomas by a stroke at the par-4 16th, Novak holed a 16-foot birdie putt to pull even.
“After the tee shot I hit, I knew I needed to take advantage, and the putt had a lot of break, but it wasn’t too fast. It was one you could just kind of throw out there and let the slope bring to the hole. I just hit a great putt,” Novak said.
With his runner-up finish, Novak secured spots in both the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open, according to tour officials.
“I need to go out there and get a win at some point, but all of these finishes are great. I have big goals for the year,” Novak said. “Obviously this is going to look good for [Ryder Cup] Captain Keegan [Bradley] and I’ve got a lot more to do as far as that, but I’m putting my name up there and next step is just to win.”
Ron Green Jr.