Written by Kevin Prise
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – After shooting 78 in the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship, Justin Thomas needed to vent with anyone and everyone in his corner. He hates missing the weekend, especially at a beloved venue like TPC Sawgrass, and knew he needed to channel his patented firepower to climb back inside the cut line.
It helps that he has made birdies in bunches here before, as his dad Mike reminded him Friday morning. As a PGA TOUR rookie in 2015, Thomas made 10 birdies in the third round at THE PLAYERS. It propelled him to a spot in Sunday’s penultimate pairing, and it helped him prove to himself that he could reach the game’s highest level.
Thomas outdid himself Friday at THE PLAYERS, in record-tying fashion. He made 11 birdies, the most in a round at THE PLAYERS on record, shooting a 10-under 62 that matched Tom Hoge’s course record (Round 3, 2023).
Justin Thomas gets up-and-down to tie course record at THE PLAYERS
It vaulted Thomas comfortably inside the cut line after that frustrating opening round, a 16-stroke improvement from Thursday. Now, he enters the weekend with an outside chance at his second PLAYERS title and a favorable forecast that will see the leaders face Saturday’s highest winds. Thomas stands at 4-under 140 midway through the 51st PLAYERS, seven strokes back of 36-hole co-leaders Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia.
“That was one of the best rounds I’ve played, for sure,” Thomas said. “The score (Thursday) sucked. It was absolutely terrible in every way, shape or form. But it was a fluke. It was the worst driving and iron play I’ve had, I think, probably in a round in my career.
“But I was way more frustrated and upset with how I was mentally. … Jill (Thomas’ wife) just listened for a long time last night. She was great. Just keeping me positive and keeping me looking forward and reminding me, I’m playing a lot of good golf, but just the hardest part was just getting in that mindset once we started today. … I hadn’t done it that well in a round in a really long time, so I’m probably more proud of that than I am of the score today.”
After a jarringly bad stretch on Thursday, Thomas’ performance on Friday afternoon in northeast Florida was equally impressive. Thomas played a nine-hole stretch in 10-over during Thursday’s opening round (Nos. 17-7, having started on the back nine), then played his next 19 holes in a dizzying 13-under.
It was a reminder of golf’s vexing nature, and of Thomas’ uncanny ability to string birdies in bunches. Friday marked his 13th round of 62 or better on the PGA TOUR since 2015, the most of any player in that span.
Justin Thomas buries third-straight birdie putt at THE PLAYERS
Thomas played his first seven holes Thursday in 2-under but did so in scrappy fashion, hitting just one green in regulation in that stretch. Things came apart quickly with a water ball and double bogey at the island-green par-3 17th. He then found the water off the tee at No. 18 and made triple bogey. He was 5-over for his second nine as he reached the par-3 eighth tee, reaching a point where, in a way, he didn’t care what happened next. Things couldn’t get much worse, he figured.
Thomas struck a 223-yard approach to 5 feet for birdie at No. 8, then got up-and-down for birdie at the par-5 ninth to post 78. He began his second round with two birdies from inside 7 feet and didn’t stop – adding birdies at Nos. 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 14. He got up-and-down from the greenside rough for par at No. 15, birdied the par-5 16th, and drained a curling 19-foot birdie at the iconic 17th.
Justin Thomas makes birdie on No. 16 at THE PLAYERS
After finding the right rough at the par-4 18th, Thomas punch-hooked his second shot into the water, but he played a fabulous pitch from 54 yards to 2 feet and tapped in for a bogey that earned him a spot in THE PLAYERS history books alongside Hoge, a North Dakota native with whom he graduated from the 2014 Korn Ferry Tour.
There’s a lesson here to be sure; Thomas felt minimal confidence in his form as he navigated the oft-diabolical Pete Dye venue on Thursday, then could seemingly do no wrong Friday. It’s a reminder that golf, like life, is fickle in nature.
“You always care, obviously, but you get to a point sometimes where it’s like you don’t; you know what I mean?” Thomas said afterward. “It’s like, ‘What, am I going to make another bogey? I’m doing that already.’ There was something to that, of just playing those last two holes where it’s like, again, I cared, but like I didn’t care. It just was like, ‘Let’s almost get this over with,’ that kind of thing.
“There’s something to be said from that, of playing without the thought or concern of an outcome and just playing. I should have a lot of faith in my game because I can do stuff like today. So worrying about what can happen, there’s no need for that.”
