TOTAL RECALL
Thomas driven to succeed by memories of previous failures
Justin Thomas carries the look of a somewhat milquetoast country club kid who might be lacking in killer instinct.
He, too, represents Exhibit A on why you should never judge a book by its cover.
Thomas, who’s ranked No. 3 in the world, No. 2 in FedEx Cup points and the owner of nine PGA Tour victories, including one major championship at the age of 25, is a natural-born killer on the golf course. So don’t be fooled by the fact he hides his mean streak so well.
A secret to Thomas’ success? He never forgets.
Thomas, who enters Thursday’s opening round of the Northern Trust at Ridgewood Country Club trying to become the first player to defend the FedEx Cup title, is quietly driven by his failures more than his successes.
For example, though he walked away last year with the big prize — the $10 million that goes to the overall FedEx Cup winner — Thomas copped to still having a burr in his saddle
about not winning the Tour Championship in Atlanta as well.
“I’m still pretty mad that I didn’t win that tournament,’’ he said of his runner-up finish to Xander Schauffele. “It still bothers me. But, I would take a second place in that tournament every year if it meant I won the FedEx Cup every year.’’
Thomas, too, still is hot under the collar at barely missing out on making it to the Tour Championship in 2015, his first full year on the PGA Tour, because he believes it cost him the chance to take home Rookie of the Year honors, which went to Daniel Berger.
When reminded Wednesday of his loss to Jordan Spieth in the NCAA championships, he flashed a look of disgust.
Then, when Thomas was asked how far back he can go in his memory to find things that still eat at him, he didn’t hesitate when he said, “I totally choked in the U.S. Kids when I was 8 years old.’’
“I shot 37 in the second round. I’m dead serious. I lost in a playoff, made bogey. My dad was caddying for me. I choked. I was so mad.’’ This is how driven Thomas is. It looked for awhile a few years ago that his friend Spieth was going to hog the twentysomething spotlight while he was winning a bunch of tournaments, including three majors, causing Thomas to joke that he was known more for being Jordan’s buddy than for his own exploits on the golf course.
That script has flipped. Thomas has nine wins since 2016 while Spieth has five in that span. Spieth is ranked No. 8 in the world and 43rd in FedEx Cup points.
Thomas, who’s won three times this year, is trying to defend his FedEx Cup title while Spieth is trying to win a tournament for the first time since his British Open victory in 2017.
Thomas said it “would be an honor’’ to become the first to defend a FedEx Cup title, saying, “Anytime you can do something that nobody else has done before, it’s huge.’’
Thomas is taking nothing for granted even though he is just 83 points behind points leader Dustin Johnson and have a very good chance of making the Tour Championship.
That goes back to 2015, when he missed out on getting to Atlanta by just a few precious points.
He recalled being “very bummed’’ to miss out on Atlanta that year “because at that point in time I knew when Berger made it that he was probably going to win Rookie of the Year and that really ticked me off because I wanted to beat him out of that, and I didn’t.
“So as you can see,’’ Thomas said with a sarcastic smile, “I’m totally over it.’’