JACK RYAN: We’d like to welcome Justin Thomas to the interview room at the Safeway
Open. Justin, if we can just get an opening comment as you return to the Napa area.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it’s a place that I really like. I played my first three years on Tour
and I missed the cut my first year but played well the two years after. I like the golf course, I
like the area. It’s nice staying right here by the golf course and just being kind of able to
walk every day. Some great food obviously in the area. Unfortunately, being tournament
week, don’t get to enjoy the wine, but the food’s nice. Yeah, it’s great to be back with how it
worked out in the schedule and hopefully we can play some good golf this week.
JACK RYAN: Speaking of playing good golf this week, how are you feeling about your
game as we’re in the early part of the 2019-20 season obviously?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I feel good about my game, I put a lot of hard work in last week. I
feel like I worked on things that we need to try to improve a little bit, but also tried to maintain
the things that I was doing well at the end of last year.
It really was a perfect break I felt like. I feel very refreshed. I was excited to come here,
when in past years I probably wasn’t that excited to come to the first event because I was
still kind of over golf, but I’m very, very ready to get this season going and feel like it could
be a great year.
But that being said, I know not playing a tournament in a month and a half or so, it’s going to
be a little rusty to start, so try to knock that off as quick as we can and see if we can play
well.
JACK RYAN: We’ll take some questions.
Q. What does it mean to you to play early in the fall like this? Is it important for you
to get off to a good start so that can carry over into 2020?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I would say I don’t play for that reason. I mean, I play
because — I mean, I’m not going to go to a tournament or a course unless I feel like I can
win. This is a place that if it would have worked out in the schedule, I would have probably
came the last two years as well, but it was too much when it was in the season. So now that
it is when it is and I feel like I can be prepared and I can be ready and it’s not too much of a
toll on my body or my game to come here and play, that’s why I’m back.
Same with Korea and Japan. Should be a great event. I’ve never been to before obviously,
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but playing in Japan is something I played in the Dunlap Phoenix a handful of years ago, but
it will be fun to go back there.
So I’m playing these events because I feel like I have a chance to win and play well.
Obviously getting off to a good start is nice, but I guess it’s a little bit of a mixture of all those
things.
Q. Justin, can you shed light on what went on with your skin situation and kind of the
timeline of how that all came about?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it was definitely an eye opening experience. I just went in, I
wanted to get checked, and I have a doctor that I see down in Jupiter and I just, I went in for
just kind of a checkup with him and I asked if he knew of a dermatologist in the area. He
has a buddy who’s a dermatologist, so I went to him and had an appointment.
I went in there and I had that one in particular that I just wanted him to check out because of
where it was. I knew I had a lot of sun exposure. So I went in for just a checkup, but I asked
for them to look at that one. So he agreed that it looked a little different and he shaved it off
and took it to the lab.
Like I said, anytime you get a text from your doctor after hours telling you to call him is
usually not a good thing. So when I did, he kind of explained the situation and told me what
was going on. Went back in for the surgery, they call it, which is not — I mean, it’s very, very
easy. It’s 15 minutes, I’m awake, I don’t feel anything. They cut a pretty good sized chunk
off my leg. Because it’s melanoma, they have to cut down to the fat of the skin. Being in the
calf, obviously there’s a lot of that there. They have to go a centimeter around the area and
then it was roughly an inch or two, probably two inches deep, kind of like cutting in the shape
of a football, a skinny football. Then stitched it up.
I had the stitches for two weeks. I couldn’t do anything, like literally nothing for two days and
then I could start walking a little bit. The end of that week and then that next week I could
practice and I worked out. I don’t know if I was supposed to, I couldn’t do any like any kind
of normal stuff. I couldn’t put in any kind of long days of practice. Then I got the stitches out
two days ago. So it feels good to have them out so I don’t feel like I’m ripping them
everywhere I guess.
JACK RYAN: Three of your 10 wins in your career have come in the fall portion of the
wraparound season. What do you feel has been the key to getting off to such a good start in
so many of your seasons so far?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I just like the golf courses. I don’t think it has anything to do with the
time of the year or where they are or whatever it might be. I don’t know, I’ve prepared for the
events that I played in and I just happened to play well.
Malaysia was obviously a place that I liked and I just, you know, I played well in Korea, or at
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least had one good day in Korea the year I won and just kind of hung on from there.
Yeah, I hope to have my wins stretched out the whole calendar year by the end of my
career. I hope to get in a good habit of getting off to a nice start because it definitely does
make the rest of the year a little less stressful.
Q. You talked about the schedule sort of being the reason for you returning here and
I’m curious your thoughts on the fall season and sort of where an event like this can
go. It obviously has one of the stronger fields it’s had in recent years, but there’s
always going to be opticals in the fall. As you said, the top players need a break.
Where can the fall season and this event in particular go in the future do you think?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I just think you’re going to have — I really just think you’re going to
have years where it changes. You know, I could have next year or the year prior where I
just needed, you know, I’m exhausted, I need a month or two break and I might just take off
until Hawaii or something, you just don’t know. Then there might be years where, say, a
really good player maybe doesn’t have a good year and doesn’t make it deep into the
Playoffs and wants to play four, five times in the fall. I think you’re just going to have a lot of
variety.
You look at a tournament like Greenbrier that in the past maybe hasn’t had the best field
because of the time of the year, but now guys wanted to go play. Honestly, after watching it
on TV, it looked unbelievable. This is a course that I like and a tournament that I really
enjoyed when I played in it. Maybe one year I’ll go play in that. You really don’t know.
The biggest thing I learned in the years, my five years on Tour is that you have to listen to
your body most importantly, because it doesn’t matter how well you’re playing, if your mind
and your body aren’t there, then it’s just not going to work out. So I think you’re going to
have years where fields are great and then you’re going to have years where it’s just kind of
luck of the draw that many not many people go.
This is a great tournament and I think the people that come here understand that. That’s the
reason why, you know, some of the better players come back.
Q. Justin, as a recent participant in a Phil Mickelson Twitter video, what is your take
on him kind of turning a new leaf at this stage of his career, becoming more engaged
in social media, doing all the calf stuff and things like that?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I think it’s awesome. It’s very, very Phil. It made me laugh because at
the beginning of it, my buddies are like, “It’s not him.” I’m like, “Trust me, it’s him.” If you
read the stuff he says back and watch everything, it’s nobody but Phil.
He loves it, he enjoys it, and I think he’s understanding why a lot of us use it. You can use
that platform in a positive way. Yeah, there’s a lot of people that don’t and basically look at it
as just like a reason for them to complain about their lives and talk about everything negative
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in the world. But I like it because I can engage with fans and I can have some person ask
me a question that, yeah, I’m not going to have the time to talk to them in a golf tournament,
but I just happened to look at it at the right time and he asked me what can my 8-year-old
learn from this and I can answer him. Although we don’t meet and have that true
connection, but like we do, you know what I’m saying?
So I think he’s understanding that and realizing that if you use it to your advantage, it’s very,
very powerful thing. We’re living in a day and age where social media kind of takes over the
world and it is bizarre, but I think he’s enjoying it a lot more than he thought he was going to.
I know I am.
Q. JT, can you talk about your support for the hurricane relief? You were one of the
first to come out and provide support. Can you just talk about what it means to you?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah. Well, definitely we’re hoping to make some birdies this fall swing,
but it just was — it’s such a devastating experience for them. I have so many great
memories with family and friends down in the Bahamas and it’s just a place that’s very close
to my heart. It truly is my happy place. When I need to go clear my mind and I need to go
get away from everything in the world, that’s where I would go.
To have that place almost completely wiped away, being closed for a year and a half or two
and the amount of damage it had and the fact that, you know, that spot, Baker’s is not even
as bad as Marsh Harbor and other Abaco — it’s awful, it really is. Those people that worked,
they don’t have houses to go back to and people that have grown up there and been through
13, 14 hurricanes, their house didn’t make it. It’s like what do they have to go to?
So there’s nothing that I could do individually that could fix everything, but my big thing is I
was just trying to spread the word and get others to hopefully pledge with me. I think that’s a
big thing that a lot of people have a hard time with is, oh, you’re worth this or that, why aren’t
you doing more? It’s like, look, dude, if you give a dollar, everyone in here gives a dollar,
that’s something that somebody can get. You can’t look it the way that why isn’t it more or
this or that. It’s going to take a long time for them to heal and recover, so any little thing any
person can do is huge.
Yeah, we’re pledging a thousand dollars per birdie this fall in four events so hopefully we can
make a lot of birdies and get some other golfers, other athletes, get other people to make
their own pledge with me, or just donate or whatever it might be. But it was a very sad time
and, you know, we’re all praying for them and hoping for the best.
Q. Justin, you made it a habit the last few years to put out on social media your goals
at the end of the year and how you did. First of all, how do you feel your batting
average was for last season, and secondly, can you give some details on the process
of where you were when you wrote them down and just some of that?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah. In terms of a grade, I would probably give myself somewhere in
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that kind of C-plus to B-minus last year. I mean, the reason I would say kind of B-minus is
because I played really, really well I felt like last year tee to green. I mean, it was probably
the best year I’ve had. But the reason I give it a C-plus is I only won once and I was injured
and missed three events that I feel like I had a really good chance to win, one being a major.
So the result part made the grade a little bit worse but I really felt like I played some good
golf. I started my foundation and we had an unbelievable inaugural event, so that was huge
for me and my family.
But in terms of how I do the goals, I really just, like last or — yeah, I guess it was last week, I
go through every single one of my stats. I look at them, I try to figure out maybe what areas
need to improve for me to get where I want to go and just kind of dissect it a little bit more.
But I really just, I’m sitting in my kitchen doing it. I had plenty of free time with my leg, so I
was looking for stuff to do.
Then I usually — I’ll usually do it on my flight to my first tournament is when I’ll make my
goals and that’s what I did this week. I just feel like for some reason for me, like when I’m
flying, that’s when my mind can just really kind of be at ease or think of things, just reflect on
either my life or where I’m at or what I need to do to get better and kind of motivate myself. I
don’t know what it is, but that’s just kind of where I’m able to collect everything and kind of
dissect everything. So that’s kind of what my process has been the past couple years.
Q. What are you hoping to learn or experience today playing with Romo and what do
you think about Steph and Phil playing together? I know you played with Steph here
a couple years ago. Who’s going to win the money game there?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Steph’s really good. I mean, yeah, I think it’s really cool what Steph is
starting to do for the game of golf. He’s obviously very passionate about it and I just, I
respect everything him and his wife do for just the world. They seem to be very, very into
charity work and stuff like that. So I think I respect him and his wife more for that. But he’s a
great dude, he’s so nice, he’s great with fans. He’s a really good golfer, he’s a great athlete,
he’s just fun to watch. I know he likes to play with different players. He’s played with
different guys every year it seems like.
I’m excited to play with Tony. I know Tony pretty well, so I’m probably going to give him a lot
of grief, like why is he warming up on the pro side or I don’t see any strokes on the
scorecard or things like that. We’ll definitely have some good fun and I’ll be sure to give him
some jabs.
Q. As you look at this north golf course, what are the challenges out there that you
and everyone else will have to, you know, overcome? What is the defense of this golf
course and what are the keys to scoring out there?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Well, it can get very, very firm. Because of that, some of the fairways
can become very difficult to hit. I feel like there’s just some key holes out here. You look at
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holes like two and three, if you play those holes even par — it depends on the wind direction.
If you get 3 downwind or no wind, it’s a wedge in, but yesterday I hit driver, 7-iron and I hit a
really good drive. So guys are going to be firing 4- and 5-irons into that green and that’s not
a green meant for 4- and 5-irons. So it really is just kind of picking your spots.
But I think the great part about this course is that if you play well, you can shoot a low
number, you can get it going out here, but if you don’t, you can shoot over par pretty quickly
in terms of if you get it in the rough with the greens being firm and it’s hard to control it,
you’ve got to get it on the right spot on the greens, not just on the greens.
You look at a hole like No. 8, you get that front pin and you wedge it 12 feet past it, you’re
really just playing defense from there as opposed to trying to make birdie. It’s very much
about golf ball control and leaving it in the right places and making sure you have putts that
you can give a little bit of a run as opposed to being defensive.
Q. Why do you think you’ve had so much success at this tournament? You haven’t
won yet, but you’ve been very close.
JUSTIN THOMAS: I think it’s a ball-striker’s course. Again, you have to be in control of
everything. You have to be smart and that’s something that I think I’ve gotten a lot better at
is just when you get out of position, just don’t force it, that’s when you start making bogeys.
I think that’s something, I think of a course like Riviera that I struggled with at the beginning.
I’d miss a fairway and I was like, okay, I have an 8-iron, I can still make birdie, where you
just have to try to make par kind of thing, and this course can sometimes get like that.