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.

Walking up to the 18th green at Harbour Town in Hilton Head Island, S.C., 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 was just outside 20 feet. The putt was so pure and Thomas was so sure that he 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 baby daughter Molly.

His previous win was the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in May of 2022. His game slipped and he missed the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in 2023, and he was left off the Presidents Cup team a year ago.

His game was back in order — he cracked the top 10 again — and needed only a victory to confirm his game was back among the elite.

“I think it was the last thing missing, if you will,” Thomas said. “It’s hard to say, because obviously careers are so long and there’s so much up and down and lots going on that you never know what point of your career you’re at until it’s over.

“At least for me, I felt like it was the last thing that I needed to do for my own well-being.”

Novak was a runner-up in Bermuda last fall. He was right there at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open. He was in the mix at the Valero Texas Open. And this looked like it might be his moment to break through until Thomas refused to be denied.

“I’m not as frustrated as I thought I would be.” Novak said. “I feel like I did a lot of good things. I’m pretty proud of putting myself in that position .”

Thomas won for the 16th time on the PGA Tour and moved to No. 6 in the world. He also moved into the top six in the Ryder Cup standings.

Thomas and Novak pulled away in the middle of the round from a tight leaderboard — a four-way tie at one point as they were joined by 54-hole leader Si Woo Kim and Maverick McNealy.

Daniel Berger closed with a 65 to tie for third with McNealy (70), Mackenzie Hughes (67) and Brian Harman (69).

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

Higgo got an unexpected share of the lead when Dahmen missed a 1-foot par putt on the par-3 17th for his second straight bogey, and won when Dahmen couldn’t get an 8-foot par attempt to fall on the par-4 18th.

Playing in the group ahead of Dahmen, Higgo also bogeyed the 17th, then parred the 18th for an even-par 72 and a 14-under 274 total. Dahmen shot 76 after leading after each of the first three rounds.

Higgo, a 25-year-old left-hander from South Africa, also won the 2021 Palmetto Championship. He earned a two-year exemption with the victory, but doesn’t get a spot in the Masters.

Dahmen tied for second with Alejandro Tosti (68), Keith Mitchell (71), Jeremy Paul (72) and Michael Thorbjornsen (73).

DP World Tour

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 in Shangahi for the second time.

The victory came 10 years after the 39-year-old Wu first won the China Open. It was his fifth career victory on the European tour.

Li Haotong and Eugenio Chacarra, who began the final round tied for the lead, each closed with a 1-over 72.

Wu finished on 14 under to win by one shot over Jordan Smith. Yannik Paul finished alone in third, while Li and Chacarra shared fourth place with Zecheng Dou.