The USGA has heard Justin Thomas’ complaints, and its public relations account has decided to address the matter with him on Twitter.
Justin, we need to talk. You’ve cancelled every meeting we’ve planned with you, but we are reaching out again. We were at the first 5 events, and tournaments last year, and your tour has had a seat at the table for 7 years. We’d love nothing more than to give you a seat. Call us.
— USGA PR (@USGA_PR) March 2, 2019
Thomas has been a vocal critic of the changes to the Rules of Golf that went into effect on Jan. 1, expressing his displeasure to both the media and via social media.
On Wednesday at the Honda Classic, he was clear in his assessment: “There’s no reason for me to sit up here and tell you guys that I think the Rules of Golf, the changes, are great, because I don’t. I think they’re terrible.”
On Thursday, he bent the shaft of his 9-iron during his first round. Under the new rules, Thomas was unable to replace the club mid-round, only to repair it, and thus played his final 10 holes without it. “You can just add that one to the list of rules that don’t make any sense,” he added after the round.
On Saturday, after it was announced that Adam Schenk was retroactively assessed a two-shot penalty for a caddie-alignment violation on Friday, Thomas took to Twitter to again take aim at the USGA.
#growthegame @USGA https://t.co/jc5E0Y7TjP
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) March 2, 2019
My problem with the rule is that unless a caddie is clearly lining a player up (which is very obvious), I don’t see how there’s any benefit to it. Doesn’t make the game any better in my eyes. That being said, we know the rule and have to be careful to go by it
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) March 2, 2019
Exactly. A lot of times caddies just stand back there and talk. Whether it’s the yardage we have, etc. or maybe I ask him to assess my lie and that’s the most sensible place to look at it, from behind. I agree lining somebody up.. but if the caddie clearly isn’t, unnecessary
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) March 2, 2019
Really? Because last I checked in PHX my pointing out what happened to Denny went viral... and the rule was changed. Pretty sad the world we live in nowadays is all based off social media. But that’s how a lot of things get done. I (and others) are doing as much as we can to help
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) March 2, 2019
Totally agree... I more so say things in hopes that the USGA starts communicating with the current players to better the game and the sport. The rules are rules, no getting past that. Just hoping going forward, communication is had and ALL GOLFERS benefit from any changes 👌🏽 https://t.co/86TE7L8AnR
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) March 2, 2019
It was this last tweet to which the USGA PR account chose to respond almost three hours later, calling out Thomas for “cancell[ing] every meeting we’ve planned with you.”
The USGA has yet to respond to GolfChannel.com’s request for a comment on the matter.
Thomas announced he was signing off for the day about two hours before the USGA’s missive.
Enough twitter ranting for me today 😂as anybody who follows me knows, I’m always honest and speak what’s on my mind. The intent of everything I say is to get the game of golf and the @PGATOUR better. I enjoy/take pride in trying to do as much positive as possible. I’m out! ✌️
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) March 2, 2019
But judging by a second tweet from the USGA PR team, shortly before 10 p.m. ET, Thomas has contacted the USGA.
Justin, thanks for connecting with us offline. We look forward to meeting with you and talking through these issues. It's clear we both want to do what's right by the game.
— USGA PR (@USGA_PR) March 3, 2019