PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – Justin Thomas is used to big comebacks around TPC Sawgrass.
After a slow start in 2021, he went 64-68 in difficult weekend conditions to roll to his first Players title.
Last year, he produced a 16-shot swing (78-62) over the first two rounds.
But Thursday’s opening round here may have been his most impressive bounce back yet.
A week after finishing dead last at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in his first competition in six months, Thomas steadied himself to make three birdies coming home and sign for a 4-under 68 that left him just a shot off the clubhouse lead at The Players.
“Literally every single thing you could imagine I did quite a bit better,” he said.
Thomas’ 79-79 start last week at Bay Hill – scores that he called “humiliating” – left him a bit shellshocked during what was his first action since undergoing a microdiscectomy on his lower back last fall. For Thomas, there was a difficult balance to strike: He wanted to give himself grace, owing to the brutal setup at Bay Hill and his months of competitive rust, while also trying to be realistic about what he needed to see in his game with the Masters less than a month away.
Last weekend, Thomas said he decompressed and resisted the urge to want to blow up his past few weeks of swing work. He determined most of his issues were mental – that he was experiencing “sensory overload” after so much time away. Sidelined for an extended period for the first time in his career, he said he struggled to adjust to game speed, concentrating for five-plus hours and getting into a rhythm.
That’s what made his round Thursday so encouraging.
Thomas ripped off three birdies in a row to start, survived two bogeys around the turn, endured a 30-minute weather delay and then closed fast with three birdies in his last five holes to clip playing partner Scottie Scheffler by four shots and sit just one behind leader Mav McNealy.
“I had a deep breath walking off 9 and even said, internally, I needed that,” Thomas said. “I feel like I’ve been playing well at home. I feel like I’m doing the right thing swinging well. I feel confident with things. But until it happens in competition, it’s hard to fully buy into you’re ready.”