Justin Thomas enjoys historic Players comeback by tying the course record… a day after stunning collapse
Justin Thomas raced off this course without saying a word on Thursday.
He had shot 78 and his Players Championship campaign lay in tatters after a dismal collapse that saw him drop 10 shots in nine holes.
Thankfully the fans weren’t in such a hurry on Friday evening. Many stuck around to watch as the 2021 champion strung together one of the greatest rounds this tournament has ever seen.
Eleven birdies and a joint-course record of 62 that not only secured his place for the weekend but also took him into the top 30.
Just the 16-shot swing from rounds one to two. Making sense of golf really is a fool’s errand at times.
Remarkably, it could have been even better for Thomas. He could have broken new ground, had he not found the water at 18.
Justin Thomas of the US gestures on the 18th hole after flirting with breaking the course record during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass
Alas, he dropped his first shot of the day on the last hole of the second round. Afterwards, he was happy to chat about this round. Funny that.
‘That was one of the best rounds I’ve played,’ Thomas said. ‘I felt like I did an unbelievable job of just staying, keeping my eyes forward, keeping my blinders on, not looking backwards, forwards, anything like that.’
On his opening-day 78, he added: ‘I was obviously upset about my score. The score sucked. It was absolutely terrible in every way, shape, or form. But it was a fluke. It was the worst driving and iron play I’ve had, I think, probably in a round in my career.
Thomas played alongside Tom Hoge a few years ago, when he shot 62, too. Thomas was only reminded of that on the par-three 17th, when he and Hoge appeared on the big screen.
That iconic hole was where everything started to go wrong on Thursday. Here he made a brilliant birdie to set up history.
‘I forgot about it until I saw up on the screen I think on 17, Tom Hoge and I hugging, and I was like: “Wow!”‘
Justin Thomas of the United States reacts on the 18th fairway during the second round
This time it was the turn of the 2021 champion, ranked No 9 in the world, who now sits seven shots off the leaders heading into the weekend.
Incredibly, he is one clear of his buddy Jordan Spieth. They were joint architects of chaos in the early hours of this week’s tournament.
They yo-yoed up and down the leaderboard and, at the end of it all, Spieth had carded a 70 while his friend disintegrated and stormed into the clubhouse.
It seemed only one of them would be here for the weekend. But then Thomas rolled out of the other side of bed.
‘Jill (his wife) just listened for a long time last night,’ he said. ‘She was great. Just keeping me positive and keeping me looking forward and reminding me, I’m playing a lot of good golf, but just the hardest part was just getting in that mindset once we started today.’
