HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Brian Campbell has lived “off island,” as the locals say, in nearby Bluffton for the better part of two and a half years but until Tuesday, he had never played at Harbour Town Golf Links.
“I just never found the time. Two years later, we’re here,” he said.
During his practice round, he played it in blustery conditions, the teeth of the wind whipping up to 30 miles per hour and gave him a glimpse of how to handle the Pete Dye gem hard by the island’s iconic candy-cane striped lighthouse in the most trying conditions. But on Thursday, the wind laid down and the sun shined bright and the course was ripe for the taking. Campbell carded five birdies, including at two of the last three holes, to shoot 5-under 66 in the opening round of the 2025 RBC Heritage.
“The greens are perfect. The course is in immaculate shape. I think you’re going to see a lot of guys take advantage of that today,” Campbell said. “Who knows if we’ll have no wind the rest of the week, but today it was a little bit gettable.”
It sure was for Justin Thomas, who rolled in 165 feet of putts en route to matching the course-record of 10-under 61. He carded 11 birdies and poured in three different birdie putts of more than 30 feet: a 33-footer at four, a 36-footer at seven and a 38-footer at 17. Thomas has the most rounds of 62 or better on Tour since 2015 with 14.
“Another snake in the cup for Thomas,” exclaimed PGA Tour Radio’s Fred Albers when the final birdie of the day dropped. “Outrageous, egregious, preposterous, he’s 10 under par.”
But Thomas left at least one birdie out there. He lipped out a 5-foot birdie on the right, which would’ve shattered the previous record shared by David Frost and Troy Merritt.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler birdied six holes on the front nine and shot a bogey-free 7-under 64, hitting 15 greens in regulation, and shared second place with Russell Henley, the winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, to keep within striking distance of Thomas. Matt Fitzpatrick, the 2022 RBC Heritage champion, and J.J. Spaun matched Campbell with 65.
Campbell, a 31-year-old rookie who played his college golf at Illinois, never expected to be part of this week’s 72-man field at the signature event. But he won the Mexico Open in late February in a sudden-death playoff and all of a sudden he earned a berth to the Masters last week and a home game this week not far from where he practices at Colleton River Club, where scenes from the golf movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance.”
“It’s been pretty crazy,” Campbell said. “To be here is just pretty wild, to be honest. I’m soaking it in.”
In the immediate aftermath of his Mexico victory, Campbell celebrsted with a couple of margaritas at about 10 o’clock and then took a charter flight at 3 a.m, back to Florida and went back to work. When asked what has changed in his life, he smiled and said, “Everything.”
That includes having double or triple the crowd from a week ago at the Masters come out to watch him and needing every ticket he could get for his parents, girlfriend and her family as well as friends from his adopted hometown and golf course.
“I love the Low Country,” he said.
On Thursday, so too did Thomas who torched Harbour Town as only two players have before.
“I was in total control from tee to green and then made some putts,” he said. “It was nice to get it going.”
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