Justin Thomas is the No. 2 ranked player in the world and a former PGA champion. He took time to talk to the media this week about the PGA this week and how this might be the toughest course a PGA has been played. Thomas also talks about the upcoming Olympics. ACES editor Dennis Miller edited the transcripts.
THE MODERATOR: Welcome back to the 2021 PGA Championship here at the Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. We are thrilled to be joined by 2017 PGA champion Justin Thomas. Justin, welcome back to the PGA Championship. This is your sixth playing here. Big win a couple months back. Maybe talk about the form of your game right now, how you’re feeling. This is your first foray out here on the Ocean Course.
JUSTIN THOMAS: It is. I played when I was about 10 years old with my dad, and I want to say maybe my grandpa, but I don’t remember it too well. The only thing I remember about that round is my dad five-putted No. 3. He putted it off the green. I thought that was pretty funny because he didn’t really do that too often. But it’s a great golf course. It’s an unbelievable venue. In terms of my golf game, I feel really good about it, to be honest. I’ve been practicing hard. It’s been close. My results have been very average, to say the least I would say, but that’s the thing about this game. I feel like I’ve been close but just not quite putting it together. But that’s the thing about this sport. You can wake up the next day and it can all be there, or it can all not be. It’s a very difficult course, difficult test, and it’s really just, I think, going to be about your mental game and your patience throughout the week.
Question: Back at THE PLAYERS Championship obviously you won, but you definitely outplayed the field in terms of the shots that you were hitting. Do you feel like something like that is going to be the key this week at Kiawah with the wind and all the downwind and into-the-wind shots?
JUSTIN THOMAS: It would definitely help if I hit it like I did on the weekend at THE PLAYERS. I’d like my chances. It’s so difficult about this place, and I’m very, very happy and also fortunate that I came Sunday morning to play because it was a totally opposite wind than it’s been the last two days. I played 18 on Sunday and played nine the last two days, so I’ve seen the golf course in two completely opposite winds. I think that’s definitely helpful for me who didn’t play in 2012. At the end of the day you don’t know what you’re going to get. When you’re this close to the water you can get one that just really flips at the drop of a hat, so you could play a group of holes into the wind and it could switch and you could play the next set of holes into the wind. It could be one of those weeks where you could get a late-early or early-late draw where one could be great, one could be a lot worse. But at the end of the day, you definitely are going to have to strike your ball solid and consistently to be able to control the flight and the distance to at least keep it on the golf course at sometimes but be able to hit fairways and greens.
Question: If you could only pick one section of your game that needs to be better than the rest of this week from what you’ve seen of the course, what stands out to you?
JUSTIN THOMAS: For me specifically? I’ll take putting.
Question: In general.
JUSTIN THOMAS: In general, it’s tough because you could argue literally every part of the game. To me it would be between driving and putting. I think hitting the ball well off the tee and putting it in fairways is going to be huge because then you can control the flight, control the distance, the spin, trajectory a lot more than the rough or the waste areas. Then it’s just being able to have that control. But just when it gets this windy, you’re just not going to be able to hit all the greens or you’re not going to be able to chip it up like this, where as you might get a wind gust and it goes to four feet instead of a foot and a half or goes to eight feet instead of three feet, and being able to make those par-saving putts are really the momentum builders and savers, I guess.
Question: So, talking about the water, you’re going to finish your season at Whistling Straits at the Ryder Cup. That is also by the water. Talk about that golf course.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it’s great. I played the PGA there I think it was in ’15, my rookie year, and I loved it. It’s a cool venue. There are a couple holes out here that remind me a little bit of it just with the — just the look of them off the tee and some of the slopes and the way the holes are shaped. But yeah, it should be a fun week. But I still need to solidify my spot on the team first.
Question: This is the longest golf course in major championship history. Is that something you guys notice ahead of time, or do you have to go out there and experience it and then you may talk about it after the first or second round or whatnot?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I noticed it last week when someone sent me a scorecard and I saw that the back nine was 4,000 yards, and I think I actually laughed out loud when I saw it because I was looking at the numbers. They can’t possibly play it that long. Unless they get a day where there’s absolutely no wind. The holes that are going to be back downwind when it comes back into the wind, they just can’t — they can’t play 14, that par-3, back if you have this wind today. Guys are going to be literally hitting driver on that hole. Unless the PGA wants seven-hour rounds, I wouldn’t advise it. Yes, it is extremely long, and it plays all of its yardage, even when the tees are moved up even when the holes are into the wind. I think Rickie I was talking to about it last night said it very well where they have that length and they need the tees because, for example, the par-5, No. 7, I think it’s 590 yards or something and I had 8-iron in today. When it gets this windy and as severe as the wind can get out here, they need those tees because the 590 yards can play 500 or 490 yards when you get that much wind. And then same thing when you go back into the wind. They might to move the tee up to 420 yards to play 520. But yes, it is very intimidating looking at the scorecard.
Question: I think you’ve talked before about the Olympics and your desire for it, but Jon Rahm has made the point recently, and he’s all in, as well, that it’s going to be a different kind of Olympics, the logistics and not being able to get the Olympic experience. Is that any kind of a turnoff to you as you’re thinking about it?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I don’t know if turnoff is the right word. I guess somewhat it is. It’s a bummer. That’s kind of the only way I can put it. I mean, I’m very excited about the possibility of playing for the U.S. on the Olympic team. Am I upset and disappointed that I can’t have my family or some friends or a normal team that I would have with me there? Yeah. Would I like to feel like I’m just as prepared? Yeah. But at the same time, did I know that we were just going to go through a pandemic? No. It’s just going to be one of those things down 10, 15 years from now you’re going to look back at 2021 Olympics and it’s going to be a weird year. I know I’d kick myself forever if I didn’t do this, and especially with this being kind of in the two-year trial run for golf. Who knows what could happen in the future?
Question: Do you feel an obligation, or is it just a personal desire of yours to play?
JUSTIN THOMAS: A personal desire. I can’t imagine what the rush and what the feeling would be of winning a gold medal. It’s just something growing up — I mean, growing up I went up on the putting green as a six-, seven-year old putting to win the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, PGA, is a chance to win these tournaments that I watched on TV, but I never had the opportunity to watch an Olympic golf event because it wasn’t a thing. It was something you couldn’t dream because it wasn’t a thing. Now that it is it’s an unbelievable opportunity, and I think I’ve made it pretty known my stance on playing for the U.S. and representing my country. It’s a tremendous honor. But yeah, I guess a long way to answer it, yes, it’s going to be extremely different and not near the experience, but I’ll make way if I have to.