HIS SIZZLING 63 DELIVERS JUSTIN TIME
Record 9-under has phenom right in hunt
ERIN, Wis. — Late Friday afternoon Justin Thomas pondered his predicament at the 117th U.S. Open. He was 5 shots back with a bus load of players between him and the top of the leaderboard, so he knew what he needed. He needed the course at Erin Hills to start grinding down the competition.
One could hardly say that’s what happened yesterday, but Thomas still got what he needed. He just got it the hard way. He did it himself.
Thomas is a small man who played big, carding a remarkable nine birdies and a closing eagle on the par-5 18th to shoot 9-under 63 for the day and finish 11-under for the tournament, a shot behind leader Brian Harman.
In the process, Thomas had moved up 22 spots on Moving Day, which is akin to moving from Massachusetts to Maui. It’s a long haul.
To do it, the 24-year-old sprite from Kentucky, who barely weighs 145 pounds if it rains on him for three days, required a 63 that tied Johnny Miller’s score in the final round of the 1973 Open at Oakmont, but relative to par was the lowest score in U.S. Open history. To dent the field full of red numbers, it had to be.
The U.S. Open is not supposed to have 13 guys at 7-under or better with a day to play. That’s for the Quad Cities Open. The U.S. Open is supposed to be a nerve-jangling test of patience, with the average winner over the past half dozen years doing it at only 1.1 strokes over par on average.
It’s supposed to be stern test not an open book one, but the latter is what the wide fairways and soft conditions at Erin Hills have provided. Until Thomas assaulted the place, it was being criticized as unworthy of the Open’s stringent demands, even though six of the top 10 players in the world failed to make the cut.
But now it’s a record setting place, and so the golf world will remember the old cow pasture fondly even if the Open never returns here.
“I feel like the U.S. Open is supposed to be very uncomfortable,” Thomas said. “What the USGA and U.S. Open is known for is making you kind of hate yourself and hate golf and just really struggle out there.
“But this one’s different because it’s soft. Usually the roars are for pars and stuff like that.”
No one took better advantage of the kindnesses the course has provided than Thomas. More than likely he was awake when the sun rose because to lead the U.S. Open is a dream but also a nightmare.
“It means I have a lot better chance to win the tournament than I did when the day started,” Thomas said of his record-breaking 9-under. “It means I’m part of history. It’s all pretty self-explanatory in terms of what it means.
“For me, I felt like I’ve been playing pretty well all week and didn’t have quite the numbers to show for it. Obviously, today I definitely had something to show for it. I don’t know how I’ll feel tomorrow.”
Size is of little consequence in golf if you hit it like Thomas did on a cloudy Saturday, which is to say long, accurately and with firm conviction. Yesterday he had the latter in spades and he needed it to climb so far up that redstained leaderboard. He will need even more of it this afternoon when his nerves will argue with his thoughts on every shot.
His control was never more apparent than when he stood sideways to the hole over a putt on the fringe of the fifth green. For a moment one wondered if young Thomas had taken leave of his senses, but then he tapped the ball and it rolled parallel to the hole, caught the slope, turned right and loped right down the ridgeline and into the cup for, what else, a birdie.
“I was trying to get over the fact of how mad I was that I didn’t have an 8-footer for birdie like I felt I should have,” Thomas said. “I just tried to find the fall line. My main goal was to try and get it in a good spot for making a second putt, but once it started rolling it looked good. That was definitely a bonus.”
Thomas could not have started his afternoon much better, with birdies on the first two holes and six birdies on the front nine. He bogeyed 10 but then was at it again with birdies on 12, 15 and 17 and that eagle on 18. Frankly, with a slightly better putting stroke on 15, Thomas might have had two eagles and catapulted himself into the lead — but, hey, let’s not get greedy.
“It was an awesome day,” Thomas said. “I’m not sure when it’s going to sink in or when I’m going to realize what I did. I know one thing: If it happened tomorrow and the result is what I want it to be, then I’d probably have a little different feeling. I’m just so excited to give myself a great chance to win this golf tournament.”
The trick now is for Thomas to remember for all the hosannas over his 63, it didn’t win him anything. It didn’t even give him the lead, which belongs to Harman. So for all the good it did him to go 9-under yesterday, he must play with equal focus and ferocity today if he’s going to leave here with anything but an agate line in the record books.
“It’s going to be weird,” Thomas said of his likely emotions. “I don’t know what I’m going to feel tonight, if I’m going to sleep well. I’m sure I won’t sleep in. I usually don’t. I know I’m going to be nervous but it’s a good nervous. That’s why I play, to get myself in this position.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what tomorrow’s going to be like. I don’t know how I’m going to feel, but I’m excited for it. Obviously the scores are low but it’s still the U.S. Open.”
Regardless of the sea of red on the leaderboard, it is indeed the U.S. Open, and young Justin Thomas is about to find out what that truly means. It can be a dream or it can be a nightmare. The beauty of golf is that’s up to you.