Thomas admits he’s been major disappointment
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Justin Thomas would appear to have a near-perfect life. At 28, he has fame, fortune and 14 PGA Tour victories, including a major in the form of the 2017 PGA Championship.
Oh yeah, and he owns a permanent home inside Tiger Woods’ circle of trust. Woods likened Thomas the other day to a younger brother, and also to an older brother to Tiger’s son, Charlie. Woods and Thomas are so tight that Jon Rahm complained about how Tiger won’t give him the time of day when it comes to tee-togreen advice, yet will give J.T. a “whole dissertation on what to do.”
But something is bothering Thomas as he prepares to compete in his seventh Masters, something completely foreign to the 15-time major champ who doubles as his dear friend. His play in the game’s four biggest events has not matched up with his expectations, and he didn’t hold back when asked if he feels like he has underachieved.
“I know I have,” Thomas said. “I have not even close to performed well in my entire career in majors. I had a good year in ’17, I had one good major there [contending at the 2018] PGA, but no, I feel like I’ve performed very, very poorly.”
It’s rare to hear athletes agree publicly that they have underachieved in anything, for fear of showing weakness and of making themselves more vulnerable in high-stress situations to come. But the typically candid Thomas conceded that his skill set should have produced more than only one top-10 finish at Augusta National, no top-10s at the British Open, no top-fives at the U.S. Open and, of course, no green jackets at the Masters.
“I feel like I’ve learned,” Thomas said, “but I’ve just put too much pressure on myself in the past and maybe put the tournament on too much of a pedestal and tried to just overdo things, when in reality I should have faith in my game and the things that I can do on the course, with the golf ball. I just need to get a little bit better at kind of getting in my own world and just going to play golf.”
One hopeful Augusta National change this week is the presence of Jim “Bones” Mackay on J.T.’s bag. Bones won three Masters with Phil Mickelson, and has a calming temperament to complement his institutional knowledge.
“Bones is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen,” Thomas said. “He’s a good listener. … He never wants to be underprepared. He wants to make sure he does everything he can so that he makes it feel like we have the best chance we can to win. And that’s very comforting as a player, because I have all the faith in the world in my caddie. …
“He obviously knows the course amazingly,” Thomas said, “and I feel like I know the course very well, too. … Hopefully we can create a little bit of the success he’s had here.”
As much as Thomas will lean on Mackay on a course he described as the toughest walk in golf, and during what he called “a very grueling week physically,” he will lean on the counsel he’s received from Woods during their practice rounds together. What is the most valuable advice Tiger ever gave J.T. about the Masters?
“To be perfectly honest, what I value most,” Thomas said, “I’m not going to tell you because I don’t really want any of the other competitors knowing it.”