The Kentucky native (32) joined Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in claiming 16 wins and two majors before the age of 32 when he rolled in a 21-footer for birdie to beat Andrew Novak on the first extra hole. “That was pretty cool,” said Thomas, who had a chance to had a chance to win the Valspar Championship three weeks ago but faltered over the closing holes and lost to Viktor Hovland. “That was as fun as I thought it would be." He added: “I didn't realise how much I missed winning.” Thomas went into the final round tied for second with Novak, a shot behind Si Woo Kim, and carded a bogey-free, three-under 68 to set the target at 17-under. Novak had an eight-footer at the 72nd to win outright but misread it and eventually succumbed to Thomas in sudden death after first missing from 35 feet. Victory meant joy and relief for Thomas, who hadn't won since capturing his second major, the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa. Struggling with his putting, he missed the FedEx Cup Playoffs in 2023, failed to justify a Ryder Cup wildcard that year and didn't make the 2024 US Presidents Cup team. He sought help from Schauffele on his putting fundamentals and realised he needed to improve. “He told me I had no home base,” said Thomas, who felt he had become too mechanical and robotic after tumbling to 174th for strokes gained putting last season. “And that's not me. I’m better off, I call it ‘pro-am putting,’ when it's like I obviously want to make a putt that I'm hitting in a pro-am but I'm not grinding on read and thinking about all these different things. “I’m pretty much stepping up, give it a look and go, and how often I make putts. It was probably more up here than it was anywhere else.” His win moved him to sixth in the world, while Shane Lowry returned to his pre-Masters ranking of 13th when he made an eagle, three birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey in a 70 to finish tied for 18th on nine-under. Séamus Power also tied for 18th in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic. The West Waterford man closed with a one-over 73 to finish on nine-under, five shots behind winner Garrick Higgo of South Africa. He remains 88th in the FedEx Cup standings, while Lowry is 19th, and Rory McIlroy is first as they prepare to defend their title in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans this week. Higgo (25) took advantage of a late collapse from Joel Dahmen to win his second PGA Tour title by a shot. After closing with a 72 to set the target at 14-under, he watched Dahmen finish with three consecutive bogeys to shoot 76 and tie for second with Alejandro Tosti, Keith Mitchell, Jeremy Paul and Michael Thorbjornsen. “I think I’m in a little bit of shock, honestly,” said Dahmen, who missed a three-footer at the 17th. “It's not how you win a golf tournament, I'll tell you that. I don't deserve to win it. "You know, bogeying the last three is inexcusable. I don't know what happened on the short one on 17. I mean, I'm obviously nervous, but unfortunately, I'm prone to that at times.” On the LPGA Tour, Leona Maguire closed with a two-under 70 to finish tied for 37th in the JM Eagle LA Championship in Los Angeles on 10-under as she prepares to chase major glory in The Chevron Championship in Texas this week. She finished 11 strokes behind Sweden's Ingrid Lindblad, who won in just her third start as an LPGA Tour member. The former world amateur number one looked to be heading for a playoff before fellow rookie Akie Iwai of Japan bogeyed the final hole at El Caballero Country Club. “You should never not expect it, right?” Lindblad said after a closing 68. “But obviously got it done in a couple starts. Just kind of crazy.”