U.S. Stars have grown up together
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland — Justin Thomas lost a skin by making bogey. He won a bet by making par. All on the same hole. The difference— a big difference— was in the clubs Thomas used to cover the 472 yards on the 15th hole at Carnoustie. And that one hole during a British Open practice round Tuesday, with a little drama and a lot of laughs, captured the essence of this growing class of young American stars.
They’ve known each other since theywere teenagers.
The fun hasn’t left them, even as the trophies, fame and money keep piling up.
Patrick Cantlay, who shot 60 on the PGA Tour the summer after his freshman year at UCLA, won six skins from Thomas and Jordan Spieth with a routine par. Thomas was far more interested in a side bet with Michael Greller, who caddied for Thomas and then Spieth when they were amateurs, and left his job as a sixth-grade math teacher towork for Spieth when he turned pro.
The challenge was for Thomas to make par using only an 8-iron.
Once he got it in the fairway, Spieth came over to advise him howto navigate the pot bunkers more than 200 yards away. The ball stopped rolling, finally, about a yard short of a bunker to the left of the green. Getting it over the bunker with that club was going to be a problem.
“Where’s my caddie?” Thomas said in mock panic.
Spieth was preparing to hit a bunker shot on the other side of the fairway when he looked over and said, “Sorry,” then ran to Thomas for more consultation. He told Thomas to open the face of the 8-iron and slide it under the firm turf. Spieth pointed to a spot on the slope beyond the bunker. Greller watched nervously as Thomas pulled it off to perfection, the ball rolling out to 3 feet.
With the leading edge of the 8-iron, he knocked it in for a 4. And then, as usual, they all debated the size of the bet.
This stuff goes on all the time, involving any number of players.
Spieth spoke of the players who came out of the high school Class of 2011who have gone on to star on the big stage. It includes Spieth and his three legs of the career Grand Slam, Thomas and his recent albeit brief rise to No. 1 in theworld after winning the PGA Championship, Daniel Berger and his passion at the Presidents Cup and Xander Schauffele, the most recent PGA Tour rookie of the year.
There are others a few years older, such as two time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka, Masters champion Patrick Reed and Cantlay.
They faced one another across America as juniors and into college, and it hasn’t really stopped.
“It’s kind of a natural transition into kind of fearless golf at the highest level,” Spieth said. “I think that’s what you’re seeing out of 20-something-year-olds. The game is getting athletic, but as far as the mental side of it, guys have just been playing against better fields on better golf courses because of the junior and amateur circuit.”
Koepka, Spieth, Thomas and Reed have combined to win the last five majors. All of them are Americans, all in their 20s.
There have been natural moments of jealously, but far more motivation.
“It is a very unique group of us, I guess you could say,” Thomas said. “Obviously, wewant to beat each other’s brains in. I never want to lose to any of my friends, especially my best friends. Sometimes it’s harder losing to your closest friends than it is someone you don’t even know, whether it’s bragging rights or whatever it is.”