TULSA, OKLAHOMA | Late Saturday evening as sundown approached, quiet settled over Southern Hills as Justin Thomas stood on the practice tee trying to make peace with a frustrating day.
Thomas was frustrated that the PGA Championship had seemingly slipped away, the brilliance of his wind-whipped 67 on Friday morning wasted by a ragged third-round 74 that left him seven strokes behind leader Mito Pereira with 18 holes remaining.
With his father and coach Mike Thomas and caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay, Thomas needed more than a swing tweak. He needed a release valve.
And he needed to listen to his caddie who had been with Phil Mickelson for five major championship victories.
“I didn’t need to bring my frustration and anger home with me. I didn’t need to leave the golf course in a negative frame of mind,” Thomas said Sunday night after claiming his second Wanamaker Trophy.
“I played pretty well (Saturday) for shooting 4-over, and I felt like I’d played terrible. And (Mackay) was just like, ‘Dude, you’ve got to stop being so hard on yourself. You’re in contention every single week we’re playing.’
“I’ve had a lot of chances to win tournaments, and it’s a hard golf course; it’s a major championship. You don’t have to be perfect. Just don’t be hard on yourself. Just kind of let stuff happen, and everything is trending in the right direction. So just keep staying positive so that good stuff can happen.”
“I clearly haven’t won the amount of times that … a handful of guys have this year. But I feel like I’ve played just as well as anybody on tour this year.” – Justin Thomas
As it turned out, Thomas needed to take it in, not let it out.
Listen rather than vent.
He looked up, not down.
“I left here in an awesome frame of mind,” Thomas said.
Even when he shanked his tee shot on the par-3 sixth hole on Sunday – it was a pure hosel-rocket – he didn’t let it linger. He was eight strokes behind at one point and would need help from others. But he also found a way to help himself.
Thomas birdied four of his last 10 holes in regulation. And when Pereira tossed away his chance to pull off a stunning upset with a double bogey on the 72nd hole, it was down to Thomas and Will Zalatoris in a three-hole aggregate playoff.
Two birdies and a par were enough to beat Zalatoris by a stroke, the Saturday message carrying him through a grinding Sunday afternoon.
“I legitimately think it’s harder to win now than it was when I first came out on tour just for the sake of the depth of the tour. I clearly haven’t won the amount of times that … a handful of guys have this year. But I feel like I’ve played just as well as anybody on tour this year.
“I just haven’t had the trophies to show, and I’d fallen in the world ranking (he’s fifth now) and that just kind of shows how strong it was or how strong the game of golf is. I think it’s easy to start letting some doubt creep in and just kind of like, all right, what’s going to happen, when is it going to happen, is it going to happen.”
It’s a question Zalatoris continues to ask himself.
He has rocketed to 14th in the world rankings despite having not won his first PGA Tour event – yet. Zalatoris has played eight major championships and has five top-10 finishes including runner-up results in the Masters and the PGA Championship.
Earlier this year, Zalatoris referred to himself as a major champion specialist and his comfort on the biggest stages and toughest tests has come through. His ball-striking is so good (he leads the tour in strokes gained tee to green) that it offsets a putting stroke that doesn’t inspire great confidence on the short ones (154th in strokes gained putting)
“We’ve only got four (majors) a year and I think it’s been a dream of mine to win a major since I was a little kid. It’s never going to be world No. 1 or anything like that. It’s been to win a major,” Zalatoris said.
“When I lived in San Francisco, my dad was a member at California Golf Club, and there’s a shrine for Ken Venturi in there with his U.S. Open trophy. There’s some of Ben Hogan’s stuff in there. Being able to see that at a young age, and say, ‘Hey, I want to get one of those.’ ”
Zalatoris almost got one Sunday at Southern Hills. Instead, Thomas got his second PGA Championship.
“As Tom Brady always says, your favorite Super Bowl is your next one, and that’s what my favorite major is. And at this moment, it’s definitely this guy right here,” Thomas said, looking at the big silver trophy beside him.