Justin Thomas Returns to Defend His PGA Championship Title, Hoping for a Return to Form

A microcosm of the world No. 14's frustrating season was a surprising missed cut at the Masters, but Thomas said he's close.

The rain drops dripping from his cheeks might as well have been tears. Arms crossed, caddie Jim "Bones" Mackay doing his best to hold an umbrella over him as he waited on the 18th green at Augusta National, Thomas had just missed the cut at the Masters.

The weather was brutal, the cold, frigid air and raining conditions on Saturday morning after the resumption of play leading to considerable angst among those having to endure it.

It didn’t help that Thomas played in the worst of it, bogeying three of the last four holes including the 18th to miss the cut for the first time at the tournament in eight tries.

The disappointment of that morning might very well have captured the frustration Thomas has felt leading up the defense of his PGA Championship title this week at Oak Hill Country Club.

Justin Thomas missed the cut at the Masters last month :: Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Network

That victory a year ago in a playoff over Will Zalatoris at Southern Hills Country Club was his last.

"I just feel like for the majority of the months this year, I just, seems like basically every round I'm playing I shoot the highest score that I possibly can," Thomas said. "You just go on those sprees sometimes in golf. Over a long career you're going to have, if you want to call them slumps, if you want to call them cold streaks or whatever, and you're also going to have your hot streaks.

"I'm just trying to stay the course and stay patient, understand that it's a lot closer than it is further and just need to be in the right frame of mind for good things to happen."

In 10 official starts this year, Thomas has just two top-10 finishes, a fourth at the WM Phoenix Open his best. The Masters is his only missed cut but most of his finishes have been outside of the top 20.

The JT who won five times in 2017 and rose to No. 1 in the world, became friends with Tiger Woods and a key member of Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams, expects more.

And it is frustrating for a player who at age 30 already has 15 PGA Tour victories. Remember when everyone used to ask Thomas about his buddy Jordan Spieth and why he was slow to catch up? Thomas actually has two more wins than Spieth and is just one major championship behind.

To put it in better perspective: Aside from Woods (82) and Phil Mickelson (45), only Dustin Johnson (24) and Rory McIlroy (23) have more PGA Tour victories than Thomas. (And Johnson won’t be adding to his total as a member of LIV Golf.)

Thomas is just one victory behind the career totals of Tom Weiskopf and Mark O’Meara, just two behind Jim Furyk and only four behind Ernie Els, Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw.

But Thomas will point to the fact he’s won just four times since the beginning of 2020 and only once in each of the past two seasons.

"It’s a fine line out here," said Mike Thomas, Justin’s father and his swing coach since he took up the game. "In his mind, he’s awful for sure. There’s nobody who is out here who is any good who isn’t hard on themselves. That’s what you do. That’s what gets you here. He wants to win all the time. And he’s not winning. But he’s trending."

Mike Thomas is the former head pro at Harmony Landing Golf Club in Kentucky and now teaches at the Bear’s Club in Florida where Justin plays and practices often.

When Justin competes in a tournament, Mike is there walking outside the ropes with his wife, Jani. And then on the range with him before and after rounds.

Thomas, who has been No. 1 in the world and was fifth following his victory last year at the PGA, is now 14th in the world (12th in the SI World Golf Rankings). And it bugs him.

"Yeah, it’s weird," said Xander Schauffele of Thomas. "He’s an elite player. It’s really just a current thing. Day to day, I’m sure it’s something. But big picture, it’s all about perspective. When you look at the big picture, you won’t even remember that he wasn’t in the top 10 or top 5 or No. 1 in the world for however long it’s been. It hasn’t been that long. Over the span of his career, this will be a little blip.

"If you look at the ranking, it’s pretty stacked. It’s pretty elite. He’s one win away from elite again. It’s just how the cards are falling right now from a results standpoint. I know he’s not happy where that number is. And it’s motivating him to do better. So just close your eyes and open them in two weeks or three weeks and I’m sure that will change."

Thomas takes some solace from the fact that No. 1-ranked Jon Rahm wasn't actually burning things up a year ago. After winning the U.S. Open in 2021, Rahm had a rather quiet 2022, contending in none of the majors and posting just a single PGA Tour victory.

It wasn't until later in the year that Rahm got hot, and he continues on that streak now. He’s won six times in his past 15 worldwide starts, including the Masters.

"He was not very far off," Thomas said. "It's like so many good putts that were burning edges and lipping out. That's kind of how I felt this year. Statistically maybe my putting isn't very good, but I know I'm very close. Sometimes you just need a little momentum. Sometimes it takes one round or one week to just see some things go your way or see some things go in versus bouncing in a bunker, staying in the fairway or lipping in instead of lipping out and all of a sudden you get some momentum.

"Have a good week, have another good week and bam, you win just like that when three or four tournaments ago everyone's talking about what's wrong, what are you going to change or what are you going to do."

Thomas has made a change, working with the AimPoint putting technique to better read greens.

Along with his putting coach, John Graham, and the system’s inventor, Mark Sweeney, Thomas began working on the new approach the week prior to the Wells Fargo Championship, where he tied for 14th.

The idea is take some of the guesswork out of green reading, allowing you to hit putts with more confidence.

"I think this has freed him up to putt better," Mike Thomas said. "It’s been pretty positive. What I've seen is if you have the discipline and not questioning what you're doing, you get up and hit a putt. So you're already freer. Anytime you can get more away from what your putting stroke is and more into the read and the feel for the speed, that's a positive. That's his game from tee to green. Feel."

The older Thomas attempts to balance his duties as a coach with those of being a father. He maintains that at tournaments, being a coach is first.

And yet, there are times he knows his message might not resonate.

"There are things that if I say something maybe it’s more his dad saying it than his coach," Mike Thomas said.

That’s why he was thrilled when Mackay made what was perhaps the key move of Thomas’s victory a year at Southern Hills. Having shot a third-round 74 to seemingly fall out of contention—seven strokes back—Thomas was in a poor mood while working on his game afterward.

It was Mackay who stepped in basically gave him a strong-worded tough-luck talk in which he told Thomas to stop being so hard on himself.

"I took Bones aside and said that is exactly what I wanted to say," Mike Thomas said. "Thank you so much for saying that. It would come better for you. It’s odd. I think he trusts me as a coach. But when I say something like that, he’s like, maybe it sounds condescending. It was perfect."

Thomas trailed by as many as eight shots in the final round before getting hot on the back nine, posting a score and then seeing Mito Pereira double bogey the hole to miss a playoff. His 3-under-par 67 meant a three-hole aggregate playoff that he won over Zalatoris.

It seems like a long time ago.

"I'm not where I feel like I should or want to be," Thomas said. "My goal a couple years ago, I wanted to be at 20 wins by the time I turned 30. Obviously I'm not there, but there's a lot of people and I also believe in myself that my best is yet to come and I feel like there's a lot of great things ahead of me.

"Looking backward doesn't do me any good. I'm just trying to look forward and look at the things that I can continue to improve and keep working on the things that I feel like I'm doing well."