Honesty not best policy for Thomas
BROOKLINE, Mass. — Justin Thomas wanted to honor the spirit of the game.
His reward: a chunky wedge from a bad lie and a big fat bogey on the scorecard.
The PGA champion’s drive on the fourth hole at The Country Club on Saturday came to rest awkwardly beside a drain in the fairway. Thomas asked for a ruling but confessed to the official that the drain didn’t interfere with his swing; if he’d said it did, he would have been entitled to free relief.
Forced to play the ball as it lay, Thomas had to reach over the drain and bend down to make contact. He hit the ball chunky into a bunker short of the green.
On-course microphones caught Thomas saying he was annoyed “because so many other people would lie about being able to hit that. But it’s just like, ‘I’m not going to hit it.’”
If a player claims a drain or other “abnormal course condition” would have interfered with the swing they intended to make, they would be allowed free relief under the rules. But Thomas conceded that he couldn’t honestly claim that.
“In the spirit of the game, I wasn’t going to hit the drain,” he said after the round. “I felt like I very easily could have told her that I was going to and gotten a free drop, but I wasn’t.”
Thomas’ bogey was part of a round of 2-over 72 that left him at 3 over. It left him seven shots off the lead — one more than his deficit last month when he came back to win the PGA.
No. 17 hole filled with history
The hole location on the 17th hole might look familiar to golf fans: It’s the same spot the pin was place for the singles matches on the final day of the 1999 Ryder Cup.
No. 17 at The Country Club was already a part of golf history from the 1913 U.S. Open, when Francis Ouimet birdied the hole to tie British pros Ted Ray and Harry Vardon. Ouimet, who grew up across the street from the 17th green, won the 18-hole playoff the following day for a victory that gave birth to an American golf boom.
Spieth still feels under weather
Jordan Spieth still isn’t feeling great after a week coping with a stomach bug.
He played the back nine Sunday and figured he would see it again during a practice round Wednesday, except that’s when he got sick.
“I normally eat a lot and I’ve eaten very, very little this week,” Spieth said after a 71 left him at 3-over 213. “I just don’t want to. Right now I should be starving. I didn’t eat lunch and I have no desire to eat anything.”
Time for a week of rest? Maybe.
Spieth was a late commitment to play next week in the Travelers Championship. Part of that has to do with scheduling; he is playing a pro-am in Ireland in ahead of the Scottish Open in two weeks, followed by the British.
And there was another reason.
“Honestly, it’s 110 degrees at home (in Dallas) and I don’t want to go home,” Spieth said. “I felt like I could take a couple of days off after this. If it lingers, I probably won’t play. There’s no need in making matters worse.”
Texas’ Vick still low amateur
Travis Vick, a University of Texas golfer from Second Baptist, remained the low amateur although he dropped to a tie for 40th after a 76 on Saturday.
He was done in by a quadruple bogey on the par-5 eighth hole and is 5 over for the tournament.
Sam Bennett, a Texas A&M golfer from Madisonville, is next among the amateurs at 7 over.