He seemed to be in anguish. Justin Thomas’ right hand fell off the grip as the ball was barely off the clubface, his arm dropping to his side before leaping up and to the right to indicate where the ball was heading at the 12th hole. As soon as he yelled, “FORE!” Thomas lowered his head; there was no use in seeing it fall since he knew wherever it landed would be far from where it was meant to go.
His right hand returned to the club, and it took all of Thomas’ strength not to break it in half, instead taking a furious swipe at the ground and shouting, “Come ON,” before stomping off dazedly. He was aware of what was going on and knew there was nothing he could do to stop it. It was one of those days for Thomas. But this has been that type of year.
Justin Thomas will finally get it right, but it won’t be here, as the two-time major champion fell to an 11-over 82 on Thursday at Royal Liverpool, the worst round of his major career.
This wasn’t one of those links rounds when every bounce is terrible and the wind chooses to howl just as the ball is in mid-flight, when it seems like greater forces are at work and they are working against you for some reason. This was horrifying from the first scene, much like “The Exorcist.” At the first, Thomas flubbed a delicate pitch over a pot bunker, sending the ball cascading over the bunker’s wall and into the sand. Three bogeys on the following four holes wiped away a fifth-hole birdie.
The back provided no reprieve, and the last hole was cruelly brutal. Thomas hammered one out of bounds, his fourth into a bunker, his fifth into another… We’ll leave the specifics out since this is a family newspaper, but it’s worth mentioning that his save for triple got all the way to the cup before concluding, “Nah.” A quadruple-bogey 9 was the ultimate damage.
Perhaps this performance should come as no surprise. In his previous six outings, he had just one result higher than T-60 and one top-10 finish since the middle of March. Thomas has never finished lower than seventh in the FedEx Cup standings in the past six years, but with just two regular-season tournaments remaining after the Open, he is presently outside the playoff picture. This year’s majors have been extremely difficult. Thomas bogeyed three of his closing holes at the Masters on Saturday, missing the cut. He made the weekend in the PGA Championship but did so on the number, and he was booted after a Friday 81 at the US Open. The Open hasn’t been kind to Thomas in the past, with a T-11 in 2019 his only performance higher than T-40 in six prior appearances.
The thing is, if the figures are correct, Thomas isn’t that far off. He was rated 23rd in strokes gained/tee-to-green and 33rd in birdie average before he arrived at Hoylake. He finished T-9 in the Travellers Championship after shooting 62 and 64. His problems are not the result of a lack of effort, as he has been camping out on the range for hours on end, including this week at the Open. To fight tiredness concerns that have plagued him for the last year, he has radically adjusted his diet, adhering to a gluten and dairy-free regimen.
But there are figures, attempts, and goals, and then there are the eyes, and it’s evident that the Thomas of today is not the Thomas of yesterday. He is both a throwback, keeping to the ideals of shotmaking and vision, as well as around-the-green skill, and a contemporary game, adapting to the demands of power and aggressiveness. Jim “Bones” Mackay said that he came out of retirement to handle Thomas’ bag because Thomas had “all the shots,” which is saying a lot considering Bones’ long association with Phil Mickelson.
Only that giddiness and swagger have been missing for a while, and in their place is a guy who knows his game isn’t there and isn’t sure where it went. His aggression has subsided, his putting has deteriorated (152nd in SG/putting), and his ability to hold the big numbers at away has been awful. And, although what he’s going through is best defined as a slump, it’s perilously near to something more sinister, for becoming lost in the woods has no assurance of return.
These are not uncommon feelings in golf; Thomas’ buddies Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth are fully aware of them. Thomas was far from the only player to suffer a setback at Royal Liverpool on Thursday. Few, though, are on Thomas’ trajectory, and with expectations come impossibly high standards and responsibilities. It might be unjust, but that is the cost of fame.
Thomas will have another shot on Friday, and one excellent round may help put his previous rounds in the past and keep them there. In this sport, hope is never far from heartbreak. That is maybe the most painful aspect.
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