Justin Thomas (-12) maintains the lead at the RBC Heritage, the fifth Signature Event of the PGA Tour season, after the second round. As was almost predictable, the leader couldn’t keep up the scoring pace of Thursday, that powerful round of 61 strokes, especially coming in the last groups of the day with more wind. However, he managed the round professionally and maintains the top spot with a two-stroke advantage over his closest pursuers, Si Woo Kim (-10) and Russell Henley (-10).
At times, it seemed that the Korean Kim could dominate the day, and even surpass Thomas’s Thursday score, with an eight-under-par in the first twelve holes at Harbour Town Golf Links (Hilton Head, South Carolina), but right at that point, he stalled and even recorded an over-par score in the last third of the round, finally signing a remarkable 64 strokes, which in any case positions him as a contender for victory heading into the weekend.
Also still included in that group of chosen ones, the contenders after 36 holes, is Scottie Scheffler (-8), although this Friday he certainly did not show his best side. In any sense. Neither in terms of play, too erratic at times with some glaring mistakes, considering he is the World Number One, nor in what relates to the ‘other golf’, the control of emotions, as he appeared too affected or frustrated by those mistakes, especially considering it was a second round of the tournament.
His struggle, as he has explained on more than one occasion, is a constant battle against himself to remain patient on the course and more positive when the game does not go well (it’s his struggle and that of most, by the way), but this Friday, without a doubt, he was defeated in the battle. In that battle. Not even he can win a tournament of this magnitude with such unrestrained reactions (excessive gestures of annoyance, some club slamming…), but it is evident that the fact of not having won yet in 2025, or the expectations placed on him every week, weigh heavily on his shoulders, no matter how broad they are. Certainly, Scheffler is not a man who takes things too far or to the extreme, he has also demonstrated this on numerous occasions, so it should not surprise anyone if tomorrow he manages to regain balance and get closer to the lead (he will start in sixth position and four strokes behind the leader after his 70 today, one under par for the day, a situation that does not seem desperate, precisely).
In addition to those already mentioned (Thomas, Henley, Kim, and Scheffler), the tournament’s top ten is completed by Andrew Novak (-9), Tommy Fleetwood (-9), Mackenzie Hughes (-8), Wyndham Clark (-7), J. T. Poston (-7), Brian Harman (-7), Collin Morikawa (-7), and Maverick McNealy (-7). And it should be considered that the winner must come from this group, which lacks names like Patrick Cantlay (-6), Ludvig Aberg (-2), or, of course, Justin Rose (-3), who was a protagonist a few days ago in the first Major of the year and who may already be feeling the effects of fatigue (today he played over par, a round of 72).
It is always risky and not advisable to make such predictions with 36 holes remaining, but it happens that Harbour Town will become more challenging over the weekend, with harder fairways and firmer, faster greens, so it does not seem easy for anyone to come from behind and surprise all the top players already populating the upper part of the leaderboard. Just in case, let’s not rule out the possibility of someone making a comeback after the third round. It could be Cantlay himself, or even Matt Fitzpatrick (-6), two players who have already performed very well on this course.
