In the third round of the 2025 RBC Heritage, Si Woo Kim took the lead from Justin Thomas by shooting a strong 66. This moved him ahead of Thomas, who had led after the first two rounds. Kim now leads by just one shot over Thomas and Andrew Novak, with the final round coming up on Sunday.
Kim started fast with birdies on the first two holes, catching up with Thomas, who opened his round with four pars. On the second hole, Thomas called a penalty on himself after accidentally moving his ball while clearing debris in a bunker. Both players stayed tied through the front nine, each birdieing holes 5 and 9 to sit at 14 under par.
Kim pulled ahead on the 11th hole when Thomas hit his tee shot into the water and couldn’t recover well, leading to a bogey—his first of the round.`
Kim and Thomas both made birdies on the 13th hole. On the 15th hole, which is the only par 5 on the back nine, things changed a lot. Both players missed the fairway to the right. Kim played it safe from the bunker, while Thomas tried to reach the green in two shots from the pine straw. Kim’s safe play worked out well—he left himself with an 18-foot birdie putt and made it. Thomas ended up on hard ground and couldn’t get his third shot onto the green, which led to a bogey. That gave Kim a three-shot lead.
It looked like Kim would keep at least a two-shot lead going into the final round. But on the 18th hole, things changed again. Kim hit a bad approach shot and couldn’t save par, making his first bogey of the day. Thomas, on the other hand, made a birdie from mid-range and closed the gap to just one shot. Now he’s tied with Andrew Novak.
With many low scores this week—like Thomas shooting 61 and Byeong Hun An shooting 63—the leaderboard is tight. Players like Scottie Scheffler (-11), Tommy Fleetwood (-12), and Patrick Cantlay (-10) are all still in the hunt heading into Sunday.
The leader
Si Woo Kim (-15): Even though Kim shot a great 66 to take the lead, it could have been even better. He missed two short birdie putts on the front nine and just needed a par on the 18th hole to build a stronger lead for Sunday. Still, he played really well overall, hitting the ball cleanly and giving himself lots of chances for birdies. That’s exactly what you want in the tough, fast conditions at Harbour Town this week.
There are many strong players chasing the lead, and a few unexpected names near the top. Novak has been playing very well this season and finished his round with a birdie on the 18th hole, which puts him in the final group with Kim. This is the first time Novak has been in such a big spot during a major event, so Sunday will be a big test for his nerves.
Thomas has done a good job staying in the game over the last two days, even though he hasn’t been at his best. He’ll need to play more like he did on Thursday, when he shot a 61, if he wants to win. On the other hand, McNealy started slow but found his rhythm, shooting two straight rounds of 65 to get into the mix.
There are other strong players chasing too. Harman has been playing well lately, and Fleetwood is still looking for his first PGA Tour win. Defending champion and world No. 1 Scheffler is only four shots behind. He’s not sure why his game hasn’t been sharp the last two days, but he’s still managed to stay under par and close to the leaders. Cantlay is five shots back and may be the last player with a real chance. He’s always done well at Harbour Town and will believe he can shoot a low score on Sunday.
