Late Stumble Costs Justin Thomas But He Maintains a Positive Outlook
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Defending champion Justin Thomas was sailing along at 1 under par with just four holes to go in his first round at the PGA Championship when Oak Hill bit him on the backside. Playing those four holes in 3 over left Thomas frustrated, but overall emboldened at 2 over for Thursday.
On those first 14 holes Thomas made one birdie and 13 pars, which around Oak Hill this week is a receipt for success.
A double-bogey 6 on the par-4 6th hole after finding the left fairway bunker broke the string of par-or-better holes (his round began on No. 10) and moved Thomas off the leaderboard and scrambling to make up for the mishap, which he never did.
“It was fun, I didn't finish very well, but really hung in there nicely and hit a lot of really good shots,” Thomas told Sports Illustrated. “I felt like I got a couple bad breaks on 6, but it’s only the first day so plenty of ground or to make it up.”
When Justin Thomas won his first PGA Championship in 2017, Thomas opened with a 2-over-par 73 at Quail Hollow Club and was tied for 44th, six shots behind co-leaders Kevin Kisner and the Dane Thorbjorn Olesen.
By the end of the day Thursday, he was six back behind clubhouse leader Bryson DeChambeau and sitting in a tie for 43rd.
“I had a lot more good than bad today, it just seems bad because of the last four holes but I had a lot of really good shots and a lot of really good thoughts,” Thomas says. “I'm just gonna tighten up a couple of things and be good the rest of the week.”
The tightening-up referred to tee shots on his second nine that he was losing right, hitting only two of seven fairways.
“I will just try to hit a couple the shots that I didn't hit well on the course and just try to leave the place with a little bit better thought,” Thomas said about a post-round plan of getting a bite to eat and then heading to the range. “Kind of just get a little bit more repetition and muscle memory, whatever it takes me to feel like I can hit the shots that I missed today, and I won't miss tomorrow.”