Justin Thomas' biggest lesson for 2024? Avoiding the 'problem' with 1 part of the training
Justin Thomas hits a shot Wednesday during practice at the Tour Championship.
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Justin Thomas' memories of this time last year are remarkably vivid, though not only did he miss out on a PGA Tour final, a punctuation mark of an unexpected decline from the two-time major winner.
Thomas, after all, said he watched the postseason for three events — and in watching the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the playoffs lid-lifter, laughed.
Did you laugh?
Memphis in August seemed like soup to him, at least in its seemingly climate-controlled environment.
“Everybody I saw on TV,” said Thomas, “I'd like to be there, but that's bad.” Everyone looked like they could pass out at any moment, how hot it was. I got a little joy out of that.”
Then there was the BMW tournament, which was played a week later at Olympia Fields, south of Chicago. Thomas' wife, Jill, is from the area – and they visit the family during the tournament. “Every week,” said Thomas.
How did things go?
“I went to a few places and people wished me luck that week, and obviously I wasn't kidding,” Thomas said.
“It was weird.”
This week, in the third and final leg of this year's postseason, the Tour Championship, looking back is natural. After Sunday, the PGA Tour season is over. There are few cases of falls left. The benefits show. On Wednesday, at the pre-tournament press conference, Thomas was there. This year, he has become stronger again. Five top 10s. Top eight 25s. And it's the start of the Tour Championship, where only 29 others will play.
All of that naturally led to the question: What's so different from last year? It seems that Thomas had thought about this.
His answer was about training. It was a little layered; Thomas, in particular, is guided by his father, Mike. Maybe there's a takeaway here for some, too.
“The biggest thing for me, I think, when I've been in trouble and I get in trouble sometimes, is that I just lose all ownership,” Thomas said. “I feel like – it's not a fault of the coaches, but I was always around a lot of people, and it was like – I felt like I relied too much on everybody, whether it was my dad or a successful coach or whatever.
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“It works for some people, but for me I've always had the ability to practice in the middle of the round. I won't be afraid to change the way I hold or change the thought or something in the lesson because I'm like, this isn't working, so I need to do something different, while I feel like I've lost that accountability. and I lost that identity when I lived with my father here.
It wasn't that it wasn't working; I used to beat and look like, what is that? I lost everything, if you will.
“I feel like owning that and getting better at finding things on my own is what helped me play better this year, and I feel like it's going to help me continue to play better.”
How did Thomas make this change?
He said it was difficult.
“It was like — I mean, just communication,” Thomas said. “It's strange, especially when your coach is your father. I told him that I don't want you to go out this week. And it's not like I don't want my dad here this week; I don't want my coach here this week. I think we even have that this year.
“I remember like at the Valhalla of the PGA this year, I was playing well and feeling good about everything, and I told – when we got to Louisville, I told my dad, look, this is going to be a tough week emotionally for me. There's a lot going on. [Thomas is from Louisville.] I was like, I don't need my coach this week, I need my dad. I was like, I'm beautiful. I feel good about everything. I like where things are going. I don't really want you here this week as a coach, but I need my dad. I need someone to be there to talk to.
“A lot is on me and everyone involved just says that because if I don't say anything, obviously they won't know.”
The result? To be fair, you could call his season a mixed bag. He missed the cut in two of the four majors (Masters and US Open). He is tied for eighth (PGA Championship) and 31st (Open Championship) at the other two. He missed only two other injuries all year. But Thomas did not win.
Still, he's in the top 30 at East Lake Golf Club — even though he was the 30th player — and his first round starts at 11:16 a.m. Thursday.
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And all that is better than a bed. Others will be watching he this week.
“Yeah, it's a good year every time you finish a year here in Atlanta,” Thomas said. “I was very motivated last year not to be here and watch on TV. This is an area where I've obviously had some success, but I also really enjoy it. I think it's a very good course. It's getting harder and harder, I think, to get to East Lake and be a part of the Tour Championship.
“I'll be the first to admit, I think I took it a little bit when I thought you were going to be here every year, but you have to play really good, really solid golf. It's a benefit.
Even though I'm number 30, I'm still happy to be here and happy to go.”
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