Repeat after me

Thomas hopes to join Woods in winning PGA two years in a row

The San Diego Union-Tribune

ST. LOUIS — Through the years, the story has taken on a life of its own.

Justin Thomas was indeed 7 years old and at Valhalla Golf Club for the 2000 PGA Championship when Tiger Woods made his famous putt in a playoff victory over Bob May.

Some accounts have made it seem as if Thomas climbed under the ropes and was kneeling on the edge of the green.

Setting the record straight Wednesday, on the eve of his attempt to repeat the PGA title he won last year, Thomas said he watched on television from the Valhalla clubhouse when Woods walked after his ball, pointing dramatically as it dropped in for birdie on the first of three extra holes.

“Although I probably wasn’t too smart,” Thomas said with a grin, “I was smart enough to know I wasn’t going to see any golf if I went out on the golf course. … I was perfectly content in the middle of August in Louisville in that air-conditioned clubhouse watching on TV.”

It was a week that changed his life, making it all the more surreal that the 25-year-old Thomas is grouped with the 42-yearold Woods and Rory McIlroy, 29, in the first two rounds of the PGA that begins Thursday at Bellerive Country Club.

A Kentucky native, Thomas first played at Valhalla at 6 years old with his father, a teaching pro. To see the greatest player of his generation win there gave him a vision for what he wanted to do with his life.

“Just hearing the roars, and how many people, and the shots that Tiger was hitting, the putts he was making,” Thomas said.

“It just got me motivated, being on that range and seeing those guys. It’s, like, man, I want to do this, even at 7 years old. … I’m sure nothing really too intelligent was going on in my head, but I do know I recognized enough that I wanted to do that just from watching, because of how cool it was.”

The PGA of America’s pairing of Thomas with Woods was really a nobrainer, considering the possible historical implications. After winning his first major in the PGA last year at Quail Hollow, Thomas can pull off a double.

Since the PGA went to stroke play in 1958, only one man has done that — Woods, who has accomplished it twice.

Woods hadn’t played the course since 2001, and he made a veteran move Wednesday, setting up a practice round with Thomas, who toured the layout in a June media visit.

Woods might need more than a few tips to beat him.

Beyond his FedEx Cup playoff title last year, and three victories this year including the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last week, Thomas is a Midwestern kid who is accustomed to summer humidity, soggy courses and lessthan-smooth greens.

Valhalla, it should be noted, is a mere 4½-hour drive east from Bellerive on Interstate 64.

“It’s right in front of you,” Thomas said of this week’s course. “It’s see the fairway, hit the fairway.”

The challenge might be more about managing other people’s expectations. Thomas fielded a number of questions at his news conference about the pressure to repeat.

“It doesn’t make it any harder to defend,” Thomas said. “The fact of the matter is that it’s hard to win a golf tournament.”