Justin Thomas Has Something to Prove, and a Chance to Prove It

TULSA, Okla. — With a father and a grandfather who have been golf instructors, Justin Thomas at all times had the genes for excellence within the sport. He rose to be a prime junior participant, appeared in a PGA Tour occasion whereas in highschool and was named the nation’s prime faculty golfer quickly afterward.

By 2017, when Thomas was 24, he gained his first main golf title, the P.G.A. Championship. Nobody would have blamed the Thomas household for investing in a mammoth trophy case to deal with all the highest prizes to return.

Thomas has gained his share of tour occasions, however 5 years later, he has not added to his assortment of main championships, one thing he has known as an underachievement. “I’ve not even near carried out effectively in my complete profession in majors,” he mentioned final month.

Friday at this yr’s P.G.A. Championship, Thomas was on the forefront of a surging youth motion that took management of the leaderboard on the match’s midpoint. Battling gusting, swirling winds on the Southern Hills Nation Membership, Thomas blended persistence and aggression to shoot his second consecutive three-under-par 67 and place himself among the many leaders.

Thomas has contended on the midway mark of different main tournaments since 2017 and didn’t win, however he feels buoyed by a brand new mind-set this season, which has been aided by a brand new, skilled hand at his facet in Jim Mackay, who spent 25 years as Phil Mickelson’s caddie.

“It’s nonetheless golf, so it’s fairly arduous generally,” Thomas mentioned after his spherical on Friday. “However I’m very, very happy with the place every little thing is at and the mind set and the frame of mind that I’m in.”

He added: “We’re midway by way of this match, so it’s nonetheless a good distance from house.”

Mackay had sometimes caddied for Thomas in earlier seasons after separating from Mickelson 5 years in the past. Eight months in the past, Thomas requested Mackay, whose nickname is Bones, to take the job full time.

“Bones is without doubt one of the hardest employees I’ve ever seen,” Thomas mentioned. “He by no means needs to be underprepared. He needs to verify he does every little thing he can in order that he makes it really feel like we’ve the most effective likelihood we are able to to win. And that’s very comforting as a participant, as a result of I’ve all the religion on the planet in my caddie.”

Thomas started his spherical on Friday on the tenth tee and had two birdies and a bogey in his opening 9 to make the flip at 4 underneath par for the match. With spectacular size off the tee — he averaged 312.2 yards in driving distance Friday — he was in a position to par the difficult first two par-4 holes, which each measured greater than 480 yards lengthy. Two extra pars adopted on the third and fourth holes, and on the par-5 fifth gap, he sank a 24-foot birdie putt. After three routine pars, Thomas smashed a pinpoint drive on his remaining gap, and his strategy shot from 92 yards to the uphill, plateaued ninth inexperienced stopped 9 ft from the pin. Thomas then calmly rolled in his final birdie putt.

“I’m simply feeling very snug standing over the ball, which is an efficient feeling,” Thomas mentioned. “The way in which I performed the final gap, I couldn’t have actually drawn it up any higher. Leaving that hole wedge from the green slightly below the opening there and making that putt proper within the center. That was a pleasant solution to finish it.”