Nobody was doubting Thomas’ golfing ambitions
CHARLOTTE: Justin Thomas was seven-years-old when he attended the 2000 PGA Championship in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.
Watching Tiger Woods win, Thomas was hooked.
“That’s the first memory of me in terms of being live and being at a golf tournament,” he said after being crowned winner of the same championship 17 years on Sunday.
“I wanted to play professional golf. Any kid, no matter whatever they are doing, they think they are going to be the best at it and they want to be the best.
“Being at the PGA that week, and hearing the roars and what Tiger was producing out there, I mean that week was the reason I (decided) this is really what I want to do.”
Thomas was in the clubhouse when Woods made a crucial putt at the 72nd hole to force a playoff.
“(Woods) hit the putt on camera and before it can fall in on TV I can just hear the roar outside. I’ll never forget that.
“It’s crazy to be sitting up here now after watching him do his champion’s toast and hoping that I’m there one day – and I am.”
Thomas said his parents did not push him to play golf, but he always loved it and never seriously considered pursuing another sport.
“I was lucky to have supportive parents,” he said. “It was set up for golf to be in my bones. They are the reason I’m sitting here.”
Thomas, one of the longest hitters on tour, has a powerful swing and a deft short-game touch.
He started this season with a bang, winning three times early and looked set to make a challenge in the majors.
After finished tied for 22nd at the Masters, fading in the final round at the US Open to tie for ninth and missing the cut at the British Open, Thomas finally made the major breakthrough on Sunday.
It does not seem so long ago that he was playing for a dollar against his father.
“I was at a young age but I wanted to beat him and he wanted to beat me,” Thomas said.
I’m a pretty sore loser and did not handle it well when I lost and had to give up a dollar.
“It probably came from my dad’s pocket anyway.”
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen completed a somewhat unwelcome career grand slam of his own with his second-place finish.
Oosthuizen, who finished tied for second behind Justin Thomas alongside Francesco Molinari and Patrick Reed, lost a play-off to Bubba Watson at the 2012 Masters, another playoff to Zach Johnson at the British Open in 2015 and tied for second behind Dustin Johnson at that year’s US Open.
Oosthuizen had flashed into contention late in the final round on Sunday when he pitched in for eagle from 20 yards at the par-five 15th, but a long three-putt bogey from nearly 100 feet at the 16th ended his hopes.
“I gave it everything I had coming in,” he said. “I left myself with an impossible first putt on 16. The only putt I made was on the last hole (for birdie).”
That five-footer gave Oosthuizen a round of 70 and a six-under 278 total, two strokes behind Thomas.
Oosthuizen’s victory at the 2010 British Open, when he finished seven strokes clear, suggested the floodgates were about to open for the sweet-swinging South African but the 34-year-old has not kicked on in the majors the way many had expected.
Oosthuizen is in fine company with his runner-up slam, joining the likes of Greg Norman, who lost play-offs in all four majors. – Reuters