Justin Thomas says homophobic slur 'not me' and gets Rory McIlroy's support
A remorseful Justin Thomas has reflected on his “humiliating” and “embarrassing” homophobic outburst upon missing a recent putt on the PGA Tour. Ralph Lauren, one of Thomas’s main sponsors, announced last week it has ended its relationship with the golfer because of the incident.
Thomas, minus shirt branding, will compete in the European Tour’s Abu Dhabi Championship this weekend. Speaking at length for the first time about his offensive comment at the Tournament of Champions, the 27-yearold did admit he hoped to maintain his Ralph Lauren connection. The company, clearly, had other ideas.
“Obviously I was upset,” said Thomas. “But at the end of the day, they have that right. They had to make the decision. I spoke with them along with all my sponsors. Although I apologised, it was then; it’s an opportunity for me to grow and I felt like it was something we could have done together and gone through that process. They just felt like they needed to move on. That’s exactly what I’m doing, as well.
“Just like my other partners and other sponsorships, it’s an opportunity for them to help me just like I hope to help them. But like I said, they had to do what they had to do. They are a huge, huge global brand and I have to respect their decision. Like I said, I wasn’t disappointed, because I put them in a terrible position. I just was more upset. I had a great relationship with a lot of people there and we would have had the opportunity to do it together. I totally respect their decision and I’ve moved on from it.”
Thomas conceded the attention drawn to this incident – his words were picked up by a greenside microphone – will make onlookers question his character.
“That’s unfortunately just what comes with it in terms of people not knowing who I am,” Thomas added. “I’m clearly beyond [not] proud of what I said. It’s humiliating. It’s embarrassing. It’s not me. It’s not a word that I use, but for some reason, it was in there. And
that’s what I’m trying to figure out as to why it was in there and it’s going to be a part of this process and training programme or whatever I need to do, not only to prove to myself but prove to my sponsors and prove to those people that don’t know who I am that that is indeed not the person I am.”
Thomas explained he had made umpteen calls and emails to his other sponsors. “They know that’s not how I act and although they are far from brushing it to the side just like I am, they understand that this is an opportunity for me to educate myself, grow, become a better person,” he said. “Just like they hope, I know that I’ll become a better man and a better person because of it. They are going to kind of help me along that process.”
Rory McIlroy, who will have Thomas for company during the first two rounds in the Middle East, defended the world No 3. “I think he’s already responded really, really well,” said McIlroy. “I think he realised he made a big mistake as soon as it was brought to him and he completely owned up to it. He said he messed up; he’s going to try to be better. And you know, Justin is true to his word. He will be. If anything, it will probably just make him a better person than he already is, which is hard because he’s already a great guy.”
McIlroy also allayed any fears about the status of Tiger Woods, after it was revealed the 15-times major champion underwent a fifth back surgery before Christmas. “I think they were just trying to clean a couple of little bits up,” McIlroy said. “Obviously he won’t be playing for the next couple of months but he should be back for the Masters, if not before that. I think he’ll be just fine.”