PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Science confirms it: Today we are more confused than at any time in our history.
According to studies by renowned researcher Gloria Mark of the University of California-Irvine, the average attention span on a digital device has dropped more than 60 percent in just two decades—from 120 seconds in 2004 to less than 45 seconds in 2024. It’s a phenomenon called the “popcorn brain,” and it’s broken down into separate studies by researchers from around the world of academia.
But the latest challenge of the digital slump arrived on television screens Thursday at The Players Championship in a very different way: via Justin Thomas’ return to the top after a six-month absence from tour golf.
“I felt like it was really all mental,” Thomas said Thursday after an opening-round 68 at The Players Championship. “I was a little tired out there. I was having a hard time keeping my focus as a whole — just like I came back after the rain delay. I told (caddy minister Matt “Rev”), I was like, I’m so far out of space.”
Thomas’ “mental” remark was about his return last week at Bay Hill — more on that in a moment — but his attention struggles continued Thursday, and understandably so: The two-time major champion returned to the Players for just his second event since the offseason back surgery that robbed him of the early part of his season. It’s not hard to imagine how, having spent at least some of his time away from golf enjoying the fruits of the endless reel, returning Thomas to the relentless focus of a five-hour-plus tournament round would be a challenge.
At last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, Thomas showed signs of that struggle, struggling just to break 80 in both rounds of a missed cut en route to a last-place finish in the field-limited event.
“Look, I didn’t expect to go into the competition and have a chance to win the golf tournament. I fully believed that I can. Like, I was hitting all these shots and doing things pretty well, but I knew it was going to be tough mentally to be out there and play,” he said Thursday. “But when you post two pretty humiliating scores, it’s hard to give yourself a lot of credit.”
It’s not often a round of golf qualifies as a sigh of relief, but considering the state of affairs at Bay Hill, Thomas left TPC Sawgrass on Thursday just one shot off the lead held by Maverick McNealy … and clearly feeling relieved.
“My main goal is to get through these weeks,” he admitted. “I really feel like I don’t have to try as hard to be in a good spot at Augusta.”
“A lot of confidence comes from doing it in competition,” Thomas said. “It helps when you’re able to do a lot of things in practice. But at the same time, all the players on the team feel as good as they did because they did so much when it mattered. A basketball player like MJ made so many of those shots and he was comfortable because he made so many of those shots in games.”
As Thomas explained, returning to tour golf is a strangely emotional experience. Technically, your golf swing may be in great shape, and mentally, you may feel ready to go – but until you’ve been through the heat of the battle, you just don’t know how you’re going to perform.
On Thursday at the Players, Thomas felt what it was like to be back in the driver’s seat again. Keeping his focus may have required some extra effort, but he held strong, coming home with three birdies in his final five holes.
And as he left the course after the round, even he couldn’t deny the joy he felt just staying in the fight. The result was beautiful, but SENSE? That had his attention.
“I took a deep breath with myself walking away from 9 and even said to myself, I needed that” Thomas said. “I feel confident with things. But again, until it happens in competition, it’s kind of hard to fully accept that you’re ready.”
