NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — In some ways, it should come as zero surprise that Justin Thomas is in the mix at the PGA Championship.
Thomas is a two-time winner at this event, after all; he won the 2017 PGA at Quail Hollow and the 2022 edition at Southern Hills. He’s among this generation’s very best golfers. Of course, he’s inside the top 10 at Aronimink’s halfway mark.
But here’s what’s strange: in 15 majors since that 2022 win, Thomas has logged exactly one finish inside the top 30. He’s missed seven cuts in that span. It defies logic that the 16-time PGA Tour winner would be an also-ran in the game’s biggest events, but that’s been his frustrating reality.
“Just got to get back to work and try to get better,” Thomas said at the conclusion of last year’s Open Championship, where he finished T34.
And that’s why Thomas’ back-to-back rounds of one-under 69 to start this week’s PGA meant a little something extra.
“A lot of satisfaction for sure,” Thomas said after Friday’s round. “I felt like — I was very comfortable getting there. I think that’s what I’m probably more proud of or happy about than the scores itself was I didn’t put any extra pressure on myself these first couple days. I didn’t feel like I made this moment bigger than it was.”
That was a window into Thomas’ mind; it’s clear that he’s been trying to solve the riddle, and sometimes trying too hard, and then trying not to try too hard. So he was proud to stay the course even after two bogeys in his first three holes on Friday.
“It’s just, I really have felt like I’m doing a lot of things well and swinging well and playing well and been putting it well. So, just go out and play,” he said. “It sounds so easy when you say it, but it’s one of the hardest things to do in this sport, in my opinion.
“So I’m very, very pleased and proud of myself for doing that these first couple days and, yeah, just kind of playing what the course kind of gives me. So just try to do more of that this weekend.”
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