Thomas shoots 63 for lead at CJ Cup
It looks as though Justin Thomas caught a second wind.
A week after a slow start thwarted his three-peat bid in the CIMB Classic in Malaysia, the reigning PGA Tour player of the year fired a 9-under-par
63 Thursday to grab a threeshot lead after the first round of the inaugural CJ Cup at Nine Bridges on Jeju Island in South Korea.
After starting his round with a bogey — on the 10th hole — he made four birdies and two eagles on his next eight holes to turn in 29 strokes. With three birdies against a lone bogey on his inward nine, he signed for his third 63 since June.
“On the last nine holes, I felt like I had a really good opportunity to shoot something really, really low so that was a little bit of a bummer,” Thomas said. “Obviously, still pleased with the start. That birdie on the last hole was great. I felt like I could have played the last six holes a lot better than I did. If I would have parred my last hole, I would have had a pretty sour taste to my mouth walking off the golf course.”
Patrick Reed, Marc Leishman, Chez Reavie, Scott Brown and Gavin Kyle Green shared second at 66.
Thomas understandably was running on fumes last week when he tried to win the CIMB Classic for the third consecutive time. He left for Malaysia six days after he went
3-1-1 during the USA’s victory in The Presidents Cup. It was his seventh event in nine weeks, a stretch that included one World Golf Championships event, a major, four FedExCup tournaments and the biennial clash with the Internationals in The Presidents Cup.
Thomas, 24, won his first major in the PGA Championship during the stretch, won the second FedExCup playoffs event at the Dell Technologies Championship and wrapped up the FedExCup title and the
$10 million bonus by finishing runner-up in The Tour Championship.
But Thomas had little time to celebrate a season in which he won five titles and was voted player of the year by his peers. Thomas didn’t even have time to come up with his list of goals for 2017-18 as he had for his previous seasons.
In a conference call announcing his player of the year award, he said he would have to “grind” in Malaysia to overcome his physical and mental fatigue. After shooting 70-71 to fall back after two rounds in the CIMB Classic, he found some more energy on the weekend with rounds of 69-67 to tie for 17th.
All of his firepower was on display in the opening round of the CJ Cup, the first official regular-season PGA Tour event to be played in South Korea. He hit 12 of 14 fairways in regulation and 14 of 18 greens. His prodigious length paid dividends throughout the round, especially on the par-5
18th where he hit wedge into the green for his second shot.
“I played the par-5s in 6 under,” Thomas said. “Driving it well, I have a lot of birdie opportunities. The day was a result of a good play, good driving and capitalizing on early opportunities.”