Justin Thomas in position to end drought at Hero World Challenge

What does it mean to win on the PGA TOUR?

The Hero World Challenge, where leader Justin Thomas (66, 17-under) looks to break a two-and-a-half-year drought, is turning into a meditation on that question.

“Yeah, it would be great,” Thomas, 31, said of a potential victory at Albany Golf Club, where he has been using a 46-inch driver to great effect, driving the seventh green with a 361-yard howitzer in Round 3. “I've been progressing nicely, been working on all the right things. Feel like I've been seeing signs of improvement, which is what you want and that's all I can do.”

His closest pursuer, Scottie Scheffler (69, one back) has won nine times over Thomas’ dry spell, or 10 if you count the Olympic gold medal and 11 if you add last year’s (unofficial) Hero World Challenge.

“I mean, pleased I think would be a stretch,” Scheffler said of his third round Saturday, when he bogeyed the 13th hole and didn’t birdie the par-5 15th. “But overall, my game's in a good spot. I've liked what I've seen the last few days and hoping to finish off with a real solid round.”

Meanwhile, Tom Kim (62, two back, solo third) slogged through a winless 2024 that caught some by surprise given that he had racked up three PGA TOUR titles before turning 22. He was threatening 59 at Albany on Saturday until he double-bogeyed the par-3 17th hole. He holed out for birdie from the greenside bunker on 18 for a round that saw him make 135 feet of putts.

“I had a tip earlier this week from a putting coach,” Kim said.

The spotlight, though, will shine brightest on Thomas going into Sunday. That’s not because he and his wife, Jillian, had their first child, daughter Molly Grace, on Nov. 18, making the Hero his first-ever tournament as a dad. It’s because of the drought.

Thomas racked up 15 PGA TOUR wins from 2015 through the ’22 PGA Championship. He also hit world No. 1. (He’s now 25th.) Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he stalled. He plummeted in the putting stats and failed to make the 2023 FedExCup Playoffs.

What happened? He hears that question a lot.

“It comes with the territory,” he said earlier this week. “I always tell people it beats the alternative. If I was a terrible player and fighting to keep my card, nobody would care that I haven't won in two seasons.

“But playing well and putting myself in contention and expecting to do so, I think that's reasonable (to ask about the drought),” he continued. “I just plan to hopefully win a bunch this (upcoming) season and stop having to answer that question.”

Thomas registered top-25 finishes in half of his 20 starts this season and made the TOUR Championship. His putting was still a liability, but he came into the Hero on the heels of a co-runner-up finish at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, his only fall start.

Now he’s got a chance to raise another trophy; he is 8-for-14 at converting 54-hole leads/co-leads into victories on the PGA TOUR.

“I feel like I've kind of been getting closer and closer,” he said. “I feel like it was a big reason I wanted to play this week … one last opportunity to try to win a tournament this year. It's a place I've played well in the past. I just feel like I've slowly gotten a little bit better and better and kind of tightened and sharpened up some things, and really waiting for the week to put it all together in one week.”