Jordan Spieth's bachelor party leads to Justin Thomas' 'very impressive' win

There is a uniquely brutal struggle that happens the week after the bachelor or bachelorette party, when the real world comes and after the weekend, all kinds of things. But most of us don't need to turn around after the bachelor party and hit golf shots on the PGA Tour.

This makes bachelor party planning for professional golfers very important. Should they hold it on the weekend? Should they go on Tuesday? However, back in August 2018, Jordan Spieth organized his bachelor party directly between that summer's Open Championship and the PGA Championship, before the November wedding. It seemed safe enough. And it was kind of, now that we're talking about it in a positive way six years later.

The reason Spieth's bachelor party will be the topic of conversation in 2024 is thanks to Smylie Kaufman, a broadcaster and podcaster extraordinaire. Kaufman recently sat down with his friend, Justin Thomas, for an episode of Kaufman's podcast, The Smylie Show.

While most of Smylie's episodes are filmed remotely, this one was in Florida, filming in the comfort of Thomas' suite in Jupiter. The trophy room for a 15-time tour winner, multiple Ryder Cupper, and Olympian, turns out to be a great room. (I saw it myself, reporting on a magazine story about Thomas.) But more than anything, it's an easy place to rekindle memories, and Kaufman wanted to immerse himself in one such story during his recent visit.

“Your impressive win, how can you answer that,” Kaufman asked, looking around at all the tokens of success. Thomas didn't take long to think about it.

“Akron,” he said quickly. “It's not even close.”

“Thank you,” Kaufman said. He knew. “I was going to make sure that would be the answer. Akron.”

“Akron, after—it was WGC … it was after Jordan's party,” Thomas said. Kaufman was obviously there too.

“I'll be honest, I had no business winning a golf tournament — I had no business to play at the golf tournament that weekend. Let alone-“

“I wasn't good until Friday,” Kaufman said, laughing. “I don't know how you got rid of it.”

“I don't mean to criticize you, but that doesn't surprise me, Smylie,” said Thomas. “I remember coming home, I contacted the doctor and I said 'I just had a instead venture capital.' I need something. Give me – I can get an IV, I can get anything. Go in, get an IV, they want an IV and they're like, 'We can't give you an IV, you're too dehydrated.' I'm like 'I know, that's why I'm here. I came in here to find out rehydrated.

“That was a tough, tough scene. That was a very humbling experience. I'm not proud of it, but I'm proud of that victory.”

Kaufman then stepped in to remind Thomas that he had won by walking away. JT shot a 65 in the opening round and followed it up with a 64 on Friday. Over the weekend, he rounded Firestone Country Club to score 67 and 69, winning by four. The bachelor himself, Spieth, lost to Thomas by 20 shots that week.

“It was some of the best golf I've ever played, yes. It was definitely the most control I've had, going to the green, especially on a golf course you know, in Akron, where it's not friendly at times.”

A quick look at the statistics confirms Thomas' claim there. He hit a good 59% of the fairways that week but 75% of the greens. He averaged about one stroke in field putting each day, meaning he was consistently hitting targets and rolling putts. That's the kind of golf these guys want to play.

“It was like you said, something that didn't make sense,” said Thomas as he put the bow on it. “A very impressive win that cannot be repeated.”

“It's probably too hard to do that at 30 so we'll keep that in the past and we'll continue to drink before big events,” Kaufman said. Sounds like a good idea, guys.

You can check out the most recent episode of The Smylie Show below.