Justin Thomas

Playing in just his 10th career major, Thomas shot a final-round 68 to win the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club. His eight-under 276 total was two strokes better than Francesco Molinari, Patrick Reed, and Louis Oosthuizen. It was only fitting that Thomas would win the championship that means so much for club professionals since his father Mike, who was watching his son win, is a PGA Club Professional, and Justin's grandfather, Paul, was a 60-year member of the PGA of America.
Justin attended Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky. Thomas was named Kentucky's "Mr. Golf" his junior year (2009) at Saint Xavier and led his team to state championships in 2008 and '09. He was a medalist in 2009. He was Kentucky Junior Player of the Year in 2008 and '10. He was a two-time American Junior Golf Association Rolex All-American and a recipient of the 2011 Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Award. Finished runner-up at the 2010 U.S. Junior Amateur and a semifinalist at the 2012 U.S. Amateur. Played for the winning U.S. team at the 2012 World Amateur Team Championship in Turkey. Won both the 2012 Haskins Award and 2012 Nicklaus Award, presented annually to the top college player. His final amateur event came in 2013 when he played on the victorious U.S. Walker Cup team at National Golf Links of America. Played on the Ryder Cup team in 2018 & 2021 and the President Cup in 2017 and '19.
Thomas got an early start in his PGA Tour career. With his win at the 2009 American Junior Golf Association's FootJoy Invitational, he earned a spot to play at the Wyndham Championship later that summer. He shocked the golf world at the age of 16 years, 3 months, and 23 days when he opened the tournament with a bogey-free 65. He followed with a 72 to make the cut and became the third-youngest player behind Bob Panasik and Tadd Fujikawa to make a cut. Missed the 54-hole cut to finish T-78th.
In 2011, Thomas started his career at the University of Alabama. In 2013 as a sophomore, he helped lead the team to its first NCAA national championship and was named a second-team All-American. He said winning the NCAA team title had been his biggest thrill in golf to date. He left Alabama after his sophomore season to become a professional, having won six individual titles in two years.
At the end of 2013, he went to Korn Ferry Tour qualifying and finished T-32nd, which secured solid eligibility status for 2014.
2014 Notes: Finished an impressive rookie year on the Korn Ferry Tour, making 20 starts, which resulted in a win, a runner-up showing, a 3rd-place finish, a T-4th, two T-5ths, and a T-6th. Overall, he had 13 top-25s and missed just two cuts. He officially secured his 2014-15 PGA Tour card at the conclusion of the regular season in late August when he finished 5th on the money list. The Korn Ferry Tour Finals started with T-26th and T-25th finishes at Fort Wayne, Ind., and Charlotte, N.C. Finally broke through with a win at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship on the Tour's toughest course of the year. His winning score was a six-under-par 278. The field's average score was 1.59 over par. He trailed South Africa's Richard Sterne by three strokes with four holes to play but found himself in a playoff after he bogeyed 15, 16, and 17. A wedge shot from 75 yards to three feet at the 18th hole at Ohio State University G.C.'s Scarlet Course sealed the victory. His parents and grandparents were in the Sunday gallery. Became the fourth-youngest winner in Tour history, trailing only Jason Day, Patrick Cantlay, and Danny Lee.
2014 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 20; In Money - 18; Top-10 Finishes - 7; Scoring Average - 69.08 (rank 3rd); Money - $276,637 (rank 5th); Best Finish - 1st, Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship. His 5th-place finish on the money list secured a PGA Tour card for 2015.
2015 Notes: Finished T-4th at the Sanderson Farms Championship for his first top-5 PGA Tour finish. Fired birdie-birdie-eagle at Nos. 7-9 in the second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii en route to a career-best, nine-under-par 61. Shared the second-round lead with Matt Kuchar and Webb Simpson. Added scores of 70-70 to finish T-6th. The next week at the Humana Challenge, finished T-17th. Added a fourth top-10 with a T-10th at Valspar and another with a T-7th at Wells Fargo. At the John Deere, he shot a final-round 67 and finished T-5th, two strokes out of the playoff. Three weeks later, he finished T-4th at the Quicken Loans National, shooting rounds of 66-71-68-67, six strokes behind winner Troy Merritt, for his seventh top-10 of the year. He played the first three FedExCup playoff events and missed getting into the Tour Championship by just five points. For the year, Thomas ranked 32nd in the FedExCup standings and 37th on the money list.
2016 Notes: Started the year with a T-3rd at the Frys.Com Open, just a stroke out of the Grillo/Na playoff. He won his next start at the CIMB Classic, edging Adam Scott by one stroke. In finishing T-3rd at the Honda Classic, he was the only player to shoot four rounds in the 60s. Had another T-3rd at The Players Championship, thanks to a final-round 65. Finished T-3rd again, this time at the Travelers Championship, and ended the season with a T-10th at The Barclays and T-6th at the Tour Championship. In 28 events, he had seven top-10s, placed 12th in the FedExCup standings, and 11th on the money list.
2017 Notes: He started the year T-8th at the Safeway Open, then successfully defended his CIMB Classic title in Malaysia. He opened and closed with eight-under-par 64s to claim a three-stroke victory over Hideki Matsuyama with a 23-under 265. Three weeks later, he finished T-4th at the Dunlop Phoenix on the Japan Tour, eight strokes behind winner Brooks Koepka. Became the season's first multiple-winner with a three-stroke win over Hideki Matsuyama at the SBS Tournament of Champions. Opened with three consecutive 67s to carry a two-stroke lead into the final round and closed with a 69 to secure this third PGA Tour victory at 23 years, 8 months, and 10 days. The following week, at the Sony Open in Hawaii, opened with an 11-under 59, becoming the youngest of seven players (eight times) to record a sub-60 round on the PGA Tour (23 years, 8 months, and 14 days). Added rounds of 64-65-65 for a runaway seven-stroke win over Justin Rose, netting his fourth PGA Tour victory (third of the season) in his 74th start. Became the first player to win the SBS Tournament of Champions and Sony Open in Hawaii in the same season since Ernie Els in 2003 and the 10th to win both Hawaii events at least once during a career. Added another top-10 at the WGC-Mexico Championship with a T-5th finish. He was the 54-hole leader but faltered on Sunday with a 72 to finish three strokes behind winner Dustin Johnson. His next good result was a T-4th at The Memorial. At the U.S. Open, he went into the final round in contention after shooting a major championship-tying 63 in the third round. However, Thomas shot 75 in the final round to drop into to T-9th. After the disappointment, he missed three cuts in a row, including at the British Open. After a T-28th at the WGC-Bridgestone, Thomas had a poignant moment, winning the PGA Championship with his family watching at Quail Hollow. The victory marked the eighth time the son of a PGA of America Professional won the PGA Championship, most recently by Keegan Bradley in 2011. Coupled with Jordan Spieth's victory at the British Open, Thomas' triumph marked the first time since 1923 (Bobby Jones/U.S. Open, Gene Sarazen/PGA Championship) that different players aged 25 or younger won in back-to-back majors. Thomas carried the momentum into the FedExCup playoffs. He finished T-6th at the Northern Trust and with a final-round 66, won the Dell Technologies Championship by three strokes over Jordan Spieth. The next week, he was T-47th at the BMW Championship and went into the Tour Championship, ranked 2nd in the FedExCup race. After the third round, he was T-4th, five strokes behind leader Paul Casey. Thomas played hard in the final round, shooting a 66. The only problem: rookie Xander Schauffele was also good and with a birdie at the 72nd hole, edged Thomas by a stroke. Despite the disappointment of not winning the tournament, Thomas won the FedExCup title and was voted PGA Tour Player of the Year later in the year. So how good was Thomas' year? By winning five times, he joined Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Jordan Spieth as the only players since 1960 to win five times in a season, including a major, before age 25. Thomas capped his season by helping lead the United States to an eight-point victory over the International team at the Presidents Cup. Making his Presidents Cup debut, Thomas went 3-1-1 for the United States en route to a 19-11 victory at Liberty National.
2018 Notes: Played 23 PGA Tour events, making 21 cuts with 10 top-10 finishes. Placed 7th in the FedExCup rankings. Thomas kept things rolling from 2017, as he won the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges, defeating Marc Leishman in a playoff. He won again at the Honda Classic, this time defeating Luke List in extra holes. The next week, he was in a playoff again, this time at the WGC-Mexico Championship, but Phil Mickelson prevailed. Thomas reached the semifinals at the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship and lost to Bubba Watson, 3 & 2. He also lost the consolation match, 5 & 3, to Alex Noren. If Thomas had won, he would have taken the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. He went into the Masters with a good chance to overtake Dustin Johnson but finished T-17th. Thomas took over the No. 1 ranking with his T-11th finish at The Players Championship. He also had a T-8th at The Memorial but lost his top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. In preparation for the Ryder Cup, he played at the French Open and finished T-8th. Won his first World Golf Championships event, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, by four strokes. The next week in defense of his PGA Championship crown, he finished T-6th, six strokes behind winner Brooks Koepka. In the FedExCup playoffs, he was T-8th at the Northern Trust and T-7th at the Tour Championship. He made his Ryder Cup debut in France and finished the week with a 4-1-0 record. He earned four points and was the leading scorer for the U.S. Team. He was paired with Jordan Spieth in all four of the team sessions, and the duo won three of their four matches. Defeated Rory McIlroy 1-up in the opening singles match on Sunday.
2019 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events, making 18 cuts with seven top-10 finishes. He was 3rd in the FedExCup standings. In his first event of the season, the CIMB Classic, Thomas shot a final-round 64 to finish T-5th. He fired a final-round 65 to take 3rd place at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, five strokes behind winner Xander Schauffele. Finished 3rd again at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, then was runner-up at the Genesis Open. He entered the final round with a four-stroke lead, but in terrible weather, shot 75 as J.B. Holmes overtook him to win by one. At the WGC-Mexico Championship, he equaled his own 18-hole record by shooting 62 in the final round to finish 9th.
Thomas had been hampered with a wrist injury that dated back to September of 2018 when he tweaked his right wrist at the BMW Championship, he tweaked his right wrist in the final round and took a week off. At the Tour Championship, he called it tendonitis and said the injury was minor. In the first round of the Honda Classic, on the 10th hole, he tried to escape trouble by smacking a 9-iron and on the follow-through, hit a tree. After that, he was playing with pain. He wasn't able to play at the PGA Championship but did compete at the AT&T Byron Nelson and Charles Schwab Challenge, missing the cut at both stops. He also missed the cut at the U.S. Open. At the Scottish Open, he told the media that the wrist was fine. He shot 65 in the final round to finish T-9th, four strokes out of the Wiesberger/Hebert playoff. He was T-11th at the British Open. In the FedExCup playoffs, he was T-12th at the Northern Trust and won the BMW Championship by three strokes over Patrick Cantlay. He went into the Tour Championship as the leader but finished T-3rd. In the Presidents Cup, he played all five matches with a 3-1-1 record. He lost his singles match to Cameron Smith 2 & 1.
2020 Notes: Played in 18 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts with 10 top-10 results. Finished T-2nd in the FedExCup playoffs. He started his season T-4th at the Safeway Open, four strokes behind winner Cameron Champ. A month later, he won the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges, defeating Danny Lee by two strokes. He won the Sentry Tournament of Champions for a second time when he defeated Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele in a playoff. He became the third player since 1960 to win 12 times before turning 27, joining Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Finished T-3rd at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, three strokes out of the Webb Simpson/Tony Finau playoff. At the WGC-Mexico Championship, he led going into the final round but shot 73 and finished T-6th, five shots behind winner Patrick Reed. In the first event back from the break was T-10th at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Lost in a playoff to Collin Morikawa at the Workday Charity Open after he gave up a two-stroke lead with three holes to play. At the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, shot 66-65 to win by three strokes over Daniel Berger, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Tom Lewis. With the win, Thomas regained the No. 1 position on the Official World Golf Ranking, which he held for four weeks ending June 2018. The next week at the PGA Championship, he finished T-37th and lost the top ranking to Jon Rahm. In the FedExCup playoffs, he finished T-49th at the Northern Trust and T-25th at the BMW Championship, and with final rounds of 66-66, he was able to finish T-2nd at the Tour Championship. His 18-under-par total left him three strokes behind winner Dustin Johnson.
2021 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour events making 21 cuts with seven top-ten finishes. He was 4th in the FedExCup standings. At the U.S. Open, he shot an opening-round 65 to lead before finishing T-8th. He was in contention heading into the final round of the CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek but shot 74 to finish T-12th. Next week, he held the lead going into the final round of the Zozo Championship @ Sherwood but finished T-2nd, a shot behind winner Patrick Cantlay, who shot a final-round 65. Held a share of the 36-hole lead at the 2020 November Masters before shooting 71-70 over the weekend to finish 4th, his first top-10 in five Masters starts. At the PNC Championship played in December 2020, Thomas played with his father, Mike, and they won the title by a shot over Vijay Singh and his son Qass. Shot a final-round 66 to finish 3rd in his title defense at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Finished a shot out of the Harris English /Joaquin Niemann playoff. Won The Players Championship by a shot over Lee Westwood, earning his 14th PGA Tour title in his 165th career start at the age of 27 years, 10 months, 13 days. He became the fourth player since 1960 to win 14 times on Tour before turning 28, joining Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and Johnny Miller. Trailed by seven shots after 36 holes and became the third player in Players Championship history to record a score of 132 or better over the final two rounds, joining Rocco Mediate (132/1996) and Fred Couples (132/1996). Played the par 5s in 14-under for the week, becoming the second player in tournament history to play the par 5s in 14-under or better and the first since Geoff Ogilvy in 2004 (-14). Shot a final-round 65 at the Abrdn Scottish Open to finish T-8th three shots back of the Lee/Detry/Fitzpatrick playoff. Represented the United States at the Tokyo Olympic Games, finishing T-22nd. In the FedExCup Playoffs was T-4th at the Northern Trust, five shots back of the Finau/Smith playoff. He was T-22nd at the BMW Championship and 4th at the Tour Championship. He played in his second Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits and had a 2-1-1 record. He beat Tyrell Hatton in his singles match 4 & 3. At the end of the year shot a final round 64 to finish T-5th at the Hero World Challenge.
2022 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour events making 19 cuts with ten top-ten finishes. He was T-5th in the FedExCup standings. Finished 3rd at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, five shots back of winner Viktor Hovland. He was T-5th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He finished T-8th at the Phoenix Open, three shots back of the Scheffler/Cantlay playoff. He was 6th at the Genesis Invitational, six shots back of winner Joaquin Niemann. He was T-3rd at the Valspar Championship, a shot back of the Burns/Riley playoff. He finished T-8th at the Masters. Shot 64-67 over the weekend at the AT&T Byron Nelson to finish T-5th, three shots back of winner K.H. Lee. The next week in dramatic fashion, Thomas won the PGA Championship by beating Will Zalatoris in a three-hole playoff. Thomas was seven shots back of third-round leader Mito Pereira going into the final round, and after shanking his tee shot on the par-3, sixth hole made an 18-foot bogey putt and was eight shots back of Pereira. Over the next 12 holes, he was bogey-free, played them in 4-under, made up the 8-shot deficit, and found himself tied with Zalatoris after regulation play. In the three-hole playoff, Thomas birdied the first two holes to beat Zalatoris by a shot after he made one birdie and two pars. With the win, Thomas matched the largest 54-hole comeback in the PGA Championship, John Mahaffey was also seven down going into the final round in the 1978 PGA Championship at Oakmont. In all the majors, it's the biggest final-round comeback since Paul Lawrie made up ten shots in the 1999 Open Championship. It was Thomas's second major victory and his 15th PGA Tour victory. He joined Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy as the only players before age 30 to win multiple majors and 15 PGA Tour titles. Shot a final-round 64 at the RBC Canadian Open to finish 3rd, four shots back of winner Rory McIlroy. He was T-37th at the U.S. Open and T-53rd at the British Open. In the FedExCup playoffs were T-13th at the FedEx St. Jude, T-52nd at the BMW Championship, and T-5th at the Tour Championship. He participated in his third Presidents Cup and had a 4-1-0 record, he lost his singles match against Si Woo Kim 1 up.
2023 Notes: He played in 21 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts and four top-ten finishes. He was T-71st in the FedExCup standings. Was 5th at the Hero World Challenge. Shot a final round 65 to finish 4th at the WM Phoenix Open, six shots back of winner Scottie Scheffler. He was T-10th at the Valspar Championship. For the first time in eight starts, he missed the cut at the Masters. He also missed the cut at the Memorial and the U.S. Open and the British Open. In 32 major starts, he has missed just eight cuts, and it's the first time he has missed two or more cuts in a year. in four majors in 2023 he only made the cut once. For the first time since joining the tour in 2014, he didn't play in the playoffs. Did get a spot on the Ryder Cup, playing for the third time. He had a 1-2-1 record, but he did win his singles match with Sepp Straka 2 up. Before he played in the Ryder Cup finished 5th at the Fortinet Championship despite a final round 72. Was six shots back of winner Sahith Theegala. Finished 4th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and 3rd at the Hero World Challenge.
2024 Notes: He was T-3rd at the American Express, two shots back of the winner Nick Dunlap. He was T-6th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am, four shots back of the winner Wyndham Clark in the reduced 54-hole event. He did have a pair of T-12th finishes at Phoenix and the Palmer. A week before the Masters, Thomas announced that he was spitting up with his caddie, Jim "Bones" MacKay. Thomas and Mackay joined forces in September 2021, and they won the 2022 PGA Championship. Thomas announced just afterward that he would have Matt Minister, who was the former caddie of Patrick Cantlay, on the bag for the Masters.