Newtown Square, Pa. – Waiting is the hardest part. Justin Thomas I know how it goes. He finished his Sunday round at 3:05 p.m. and five under par. He was the leader at home, the leader among those who had played 72 holes in this 108 The PGA Championship. of leader the leader, right then, was Matti Schmid, on the front nine and six under par. A bunch of others were tied with Thomas at five. Thomas, a two-time winner of this event, was not out of it. He knew, above all, what NO to do:
Don’t start drinking.
He learned that 10 years ago, as a 23-year-old at the Hartford stop. Thomas had shot a final-round 62 to move from middle of the pack to leading the club at 12 years old. That score never wins in Hartford. His caddy, Jimmy Johnson, was 90 minutes on the road. Thomas and a friend had a lunch of four beers, maybe five. The wind started howling. The leaders weren’t making birds. Suddenly, 12 under started to look like it might be a winning score.
“I never haveNO I wanted to be in a playoff before,” Thomas said Sunday afternoon here. “But I didn’t want there to be a playoff.” In the end, Russell Knox won at 14 under.
So no – Justin Thomas, famously a beer drinker, wouldn’t be drinking Sunday afternoon, here at Aroniminkat least not before someone got into six under or lower.
Thomas has played a lot of golf with him Couples Fred. He probably knows the story of Fred’s first Tour win, in 1983. Fred was in a five-man playoff at the Kemper Open in Congress with TC Chen, Scott Simpson, Gil Morgan and Barry Jaeckel. The details are hazy, all these years and refreshments later, but this much can be said for sure: Barry Jaeckel had enjoyed the comforts of the Congressional clubhouse for about two hours before being called out for a playoff. Jaeckel was out after one hole. Couples won the next.
Thomas is the son (and grandson) of a PGA professional who grew up in Louisville, Ky. When he was three, the PGA Championship came to town, at Valhalla. A native Kentucky boy, Kenny Perry, shot a final 68 that made him the club leader. He entered CBS broadcast booth and heartily began to offer some insight into his game and how he would play the course for the boys still in it. When the fourth round ended, Perry, surprisingly, was in a sudden death playoff with Mark Brooks. Perry went straight from the booth to the playoff and watched Brooks birdie his first hole and win.
Justin Thomas wasn’t going to spend his Sunday afternoon in the CBS broadcast booth on the 18th.
Thomas has had an unlikely year. After last year’s Ryder Cup, he underwent surgery to relieve pain from a herniated disc and didn’t play again until Bay Hill in March, where he shot 79-79. His results were an illustration of how fragile this game can be. His level of honesty about the state of his game was amazing. He looked lost.
But the next week he had a solid top-10 finish at The Players Championship and you knew then, and Thomas knew then, that it wasn’t like he had forgotten how to play tournament golf.
After two rounds of 69 here, Thomas was just two shots off the lead at the halfway mark of the tournament. But a third-round 72 left him frustrated and seemingly out of contention. He practiced almost at sunset.
“I was very sour,” Thomas said Sunday afternoon. “I was upset. I fought hard to hit the score I did, and I felt it was the best shot I could shoot. “But I was just upset and upset that I didn’t play better. I worked out much longer than I normally would in that situation. I just felt like I couldn’t get off the golf course in the frame of mind I was in.”
When it was over, Thomas generously signed autographs and stopped to take photos with fans in front of Aronimink’s magnificent clubhouse.
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He was out Sunday morning at 10:55, three hours and 40 minutes before the final double of the day. At the start of the day, Thomas was tied and six shots behind Saturday night’s leader, Alex Smalley.
Thomas shot to 33, two under par. In the first eight holes of his back nine he made three birdies, and no bogeys. He stood at the 18th tee five under, desperate to get to six. The final hole here is an uphill 490 yard par-4 with a hot fairway. All Thomas had to do was bring it into play. He pulled his shot, came back in and gave it a bubble, as he does. His ball ended up hard left. Thomas picked a banana and ate it.
The lie was so weak, he indicated the exact location of the ball with a pencil to make sure Thomas didn’t accidentally step on it. All he could do from there was get one out, and he did. That shot ended up 40 yards short of the hole. From there he rose to 15 feet.
The golfer in contention is so amped up. On the 17th, a 172-yard par-3, Thomas hit a wedge, thinking the adrenaline would give him an extra 15 yards. When you’ve got all that extra speed in your system, when your heart is racing, it’s hard to settle down on a 15-footer. It’s hard to get in touch with your fine side. Thomas’ friend Tiger Woods is probably the best ever at controlling his breathing and heart rate and high emotions in times of stress. He did it routinely, going from Superman on the final tees to fine-stroke oil painter on the final greens. Thomas took a breather and made his 15-footer for the first.
He hugged his caddy. He kissed his wife. He hugged his father. He signed for 65. He began his sober wait. If he’s going to win a third PGA Championship, here at Aronimink, he’s going to need help. He was addicted, he was addicted, he was addicted. Five had a chance, until they didn’t. Justin Thomas’ reception ended at 6:30, with Aaron Ray at nine under par. Thomas could hit his first. It was fun while it lasted, if you call any of that fun.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com
