HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — For a tournament that begins just days after the Masters, the RBC Heritage can seem like a sleepier event.

Nestled in the heart of the Lowcountry on Hilton Head Island, a resort town where locals and tourists bike to and from coffee shops, white-sand beaches and the iconic Harbour Town Lighthouse, the Pete Dye-designed Harbour Town Golf Links plays host to the event and is one of hundreds of golf courses in a state where Jack Nicklaus, Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Arnold Palmer have worked their design magic.

But don't be fooled by the deceptively serene nature of the RBC Heritage. Look no further than the past four champions – Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick, Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas – for a glimpse into the epic stage that the event presents.

The 2025 edition of the event saw Thomas open with a 61 to match the course record, then card three subsequent sub-70 rounds to make it to a playoff with Andrew Novak. Thomas sank a 20-foot putt on the first playoff hole to capture the tartan jacket and his 16th PGA TOUR victory.

"I think I did a great job last year of plotting my way around here and just my overall strategy and execution," Thomas said Tuesday. "Obviously I played really well, but I think that there's also a lot about this course of just knowing when it's time to attack or maybe more so when it's not time to attack because this place can just – you stand on a tee and you feel like you should have a good chance at birdie, or you look at the scorecard and see the length of the hole and think you should make birdie, and you just can make bogey after bogey very quickly if you get complacent or lazy.

"I think sticking to a very good game plan and just kind of picking my spots when I need to and being very patient."

Strategic prowess, patience and committing to shots around Harbour Town are oft-repeated themes from Thomas.

Speaking after his win in 2025, he reflected on how "fun playing this place" could be, saying, "I feel like it's a golf course that fits my game or it's a place that I really enjoy to play because I think it's a place that rewards good golf, but it can really, really penalize you."

Thomas consulted his dad, Mike, the night before the final round in 2025 to hone in on his strategy.

"I just kept having numbers and clubs or angles that a really good shot was 20, 25 feet or it was a club that I couldn't quite get to the hole but the other one wasn't going to have enough spin to stop near the hole and it was going to go past," he said, "and when you get at places like this, it really is just about being patient and kind of picking the spots when you have them.

"I felt like we had a good idea of how the course was playing, and it was almost kind of like hitting a tee shot, getting out there, assessing, okay, this is a pin we can go after, this is a pin we can't, and then just being aggressive to those conservative targets, if you will."

Thomas stayed committed all the way up to the final putt.

"The putt in the playoff was a putt I feel like I'd seen in the past," he said. "It's kind of a funky little pin. If you try to play too much break, it seems like it kind of stays out. But more than anything, like I did all weekend, I just felt like I had my read a little bit outside the left of it being straight and falling right, and I just committed to that and really tried to put a good stroke with good speed on it, and it looked good the whole way."

This year, Harbour Town looks a little different. The course underwent a six-month restoration in 2025, spearheaded by five-time RBC Heritage champion Davis Love III.

"Anything that (Love III) was changing or doing was going to be very minor and for the better because a lot of what makes Harbour Town what it is, you need to keep," said Thomas. "And that's the doglegs, the small greens, the trees where they are."

Despite the changes to the course, the strategy remains. May the most patient man win.