Plaid Nation Day: Kim leads after a round of sand, mud. How will this stampede end?

A little known piece of history from the Lowcountry is there was once a time when horse races happened occasionally on local beaches. Equines known as Marsh Tacky horses would occasionally run for victory.

At this year’s installment of the RBC Heritage, on the shores of the Calibogue sound, we have a different kind of horse race with Si Woo Kim holding a tenuous one stroke lead over Andrew Novak and Justin Thomas. More importantly, there are eleven other players within five strokes of Kim’s 15-under total going into championship Sunday.

Two of Kim’s pursuers are multiple major championship winners, one is the next Ryder Cup captain and all of them have a game that sets up perfectly for the precision that Harbour Town Golf Links demands.

One of the reason’s first and second round leader Justin Thomas is now one stroke behind Kim has to do with two Hilton Head staples, sand and water. On the second hole, PGA Tour rules official Robby Ware was called in by Thomas because there was concern that his golf ball had oscillated as Thomas was removing loose pebbles from a sandy area of the course known as a waste bunker. Golf is the only sport where players actually call penalties on themselves and Thomas followed the correct procedure in asking for Ware’s guidance and a ruling, which was made later through video review. Thomas went on to birdie the second hole but the score was revised to a par after the ruling.

In another moment of bad fortune for Thomas on #11, he hit his tee shot wide right and it landed in a small pond. Rather than take an unplayable lie and a penalty, he attempted to hit the ball out of the shallow, muddy water. Not surprisingly much of that muck ended up on Thomas’s pants, shirt, arms, face and hat. He quipped to the gallery, “That didn’t really seem worth it after all” as the ball ended up a a few feet closer to the hole but still more than 172 yards from the green. CBS Commentator Frank Nobilo, in his dry New Zealand accent and with a seemingly extensive knowledge of skin care, advised Thomas, “It’s good for the complexion, rub the mud in.” Thomas decided using a towel to remove the muck was a more prudent option.

Both of those mishaps, and a dearth of birdies in the third round, left Thomas carding a second straight 2-under 69 to fall one back of Kim and Tied with Novak.

Andrew Novak is a Carolina guy

Novak, despite earning more than $6 million since 2022, is not a household name on the tour but he is a Carolina-area native. He went to high school near Charleston and attended Wofford College in Spartanburg. He lists his current residence as St. Simons Island, Ga. He carded a bogie-free 66 Saturday with five birdies including one at the difficult par3 #17 by rolling a 15-foot putt into the heart of the cup to get to 14-under par and a tie for second after 54 holes.

Kim: Fairways, greens and short putts are the keys

For his part, Korean player Si Woo Kim continued to play solid golf, posting a 5-under 66 to take the one stroke lead into Sunday. Yes, to the casual fan it can take on the appearance of a ho-hum round of hitting fairways and greens in regulation, but behind that predictability is a player that, on Saturday, didn’t have much stress over long puts, mud baths or pebble trouble, Kim’s one stroke lead at the end of the day could have been worse for Thomas and Novak as his short putts on #6 and #7 were left wanting and a short put on #18 broke away from the hole leaving him with a closing bogie.

After all the mud, sand and flying grass of Saturday’s round, Sunday will again have all the energy of a thoroughbred horse race with more than a dozen players stampeding toward the anticipated 6 p.m. finish line. Ladies and gentlemen, hold on to your tickets, it will be a wild race.

Odds to win and Sunday tee times

• Kim +250, 1:55 p.m.
• Novak +600, 1:55 p.m.
• Thomas +240, 1:45 p.m.
• McNealy +750, 1:45 p.m.
• Harman +1800, 1:35 p.m.
• Fleetwood +1200, 1:35 p.m.
• Scheffler +900, 1:25 p.m.

This story was originally published April 19, 2025 at 8:40 PM.