Justin Thomas displays power, gains confidence on PGA Tour
SAN DIEGO -- Justin Thomas tops out at 5-9 and tips the scales at about a buck fifty dripping wet. Charles Atlas he is not.
But he sure hits it like Paul Bunyan.
Thomas is among the early-season story lines of the 2014-15 wraparound season because of his youth at age 21, his play and his power. Thomas has ridden that power into contention the last three weeks with ties for sixth in the Sony Open, seventh in the Humana Challenge and 17th last week in the Waste Management Phoenix Open. His scoring average is 69.88 (13th on Tour) and he's won $664,936.
But for the life of him, the former Alabama All-American can't explain why he's averaging 303.1 yards off the tee, which ranks 16th on the PGA Tour.
"It makes no sense why I hit it as far as I do with my size and my height and everything, it really doesn't," Thomas said Tuesday after a practice round on the South Course at Torrey Pines as he prepared for the Farmers Insurance Open. "That's what I focus on in my workouts and my stretches; to get the most possible out of my body frame and to hit it as far as I can for my weight. I guess I'm efficient with what I have.
"And swinging hard doesn't hurt either."
Good friend Jordan Spieth said we'll see an even longer Thomas.
"The more confidence he gets the longer he hits it," said Spieth, who first met Thomas when they were 13 at an American Junior Golf Association tournament. "I really don't know how he hits it so long. He gets it into a really good position at the top and then he has that little pause and then everything rifles through in sync."
Thomas, who won once on the Web.com Tour in 2014, started wowing people on the PGA Tour last year when, on a sponsor's exemption, he tied for 10th in the Farmers. He's quickly become a known player this year, with each week adding to his confidence.
"I've been on a run," he said. "I just have a little different mind frame I think going into the tournaments as I did in the fall events. I'm just enjoying it. … But I think that it all in the end comes down to just I have a lot more confidence when I'm out on the course going into each event."
Coming up short the past three weeks also has helped him.
"Patience," Thomas said when asked what he's learned about being in the heat three weeks in a row. ""I feel like I've played well enough to win and it happened to me last year as well. I was fortunate where I played well enough to get myself in contention a pretty good amount of times and it took me awhile to get it done.
"Everyone kept asking me when are you going to win? And I said, 'I'm trying, I wasn't trying to finish whatever I was.' It's tough to win. It doesn't matter what level you're at. If I go play some college events right now I would have a hard time winning. I think that it's just being patient and just letting whatever's going to happen, happen."
Spieth said Thomas will make it happen this season.
"I think he'll win this year, no doubt," Spieth said. "The past three weeks were great experience for him, being in contention, feeling the blood running. You have to go through that to win. I don't think it will be far from now."