Justin Thomas had a front-row seat to golf history on Thursday at Valhalla as a playing partner of Xander Schauffele, who fired a PGA Championship record 62. Thomas called it “one of the easiest nine-under you’ve ever seen” and admitted to it making it feel like he was “shooting a million.” For the record, Thomas shot 69 and not a million, but we understand where he was coming from.
And as someone who is no stranger to posting low scores himself, including in majors like that 63 at the 2017 U.S. Open, Thomas understood that it’s possible that Schauffele isn’t satisfied by his sensational opening number. Say what?
Q. Is it possible to be disappointed after shooting a 62?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Dude, look, golfers are disappointed no matter what they shoot. That is one thing that will never change. We could shoot 56 and we should have shot 55.
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Nailed it. For us weekend hackers, of course, it’s more like feeling like that 87 should have been an 82, but we feel ya, JT. Golfers always come away feeling like they left a couple shots out there.
Before that answer, Thomas also explained what it feels like to be in such a zone like Schauffele was on Thursday.
“Easy,” Thomas said drawing laughter from reporters. “Like just where you want it to go, and it’s going to go right there, and you feel like you should have shot 57 or 58, and you shot—what did he shoot, 62? Yeah, it’s fun, but it’s real easy.”
OK, now that’s something us weekend hackers definitely do NOT understand.
Main image: Michael Reaves