Justin Thomas has only 10 seasons in professional golf but his trophy cabinet has more silverware than many of his more experienced colleagues. Thomas recently claimed that this success went to his head back in the day.
Thomas held the usual press conference prior to his participation in the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. He admitted to the press that at the peak of his game, he "took for granted" the results he was getting.
Justin Thomas said:
"It's just about getting in the right head space and executing when you need to, just plotting my way around the golf course better. I think I took for granted how good I did that there for a couple years."
"I just would accidentally find myself in contention in tournaments way more often by not forcing the issue or not making things harder than it needed to be," he added. "That's what I would say more what I'm trying to kind of get into because, like I said, I feel great about my golf."
"I really have kind of toward the end of last year but especially the start of this year and as the year's gone on."
Among his most notable successes is having won the PGA Championship twice, precisely the Major that follows the Wells Fargo Championship. Justin Thomas made a scouting visit to Valhalla Golf Club and spoke about the course as well. He said:
"I remembered more than I thought I would. It hasn't changed a lot, more so just some new tees and cleared some trees out to make it way more spectator friendly."
"I feel like you'll be able to see throughout the course more, which I thought was a great look," he added. "But yeah, it was great. I mean, I have some pretty cool memories of Valhalla and I'm excited to hopefully make some of my own but on the other side of the ropes for a change."
A look back at the highest peak of Justin Thomas' professional career
Justin Thomas began his professional career in 2013 and earned his PGA Tour card for the 2014 season through Web.com Q-School (now the Korn Ferry Tour). Thomas quickly began to excel at the highest level.
His first PGA Tour victory came in his second season, winning the 2015 CIMB Classic. However, the highest peak of his career began a season later. During 2016-2017, Thomas won five tournaments, including his first Major.
This peak extended until 2020. In this period, Thomas won 12 of his total 15 victories on the PGA Tour and was one of the most dominant players on the circuit. Thomas won the following tournaments between the 2016-2017 and 2019-2020 seasons:
- 2016 CIMB Classic
- 2017 Dell Technologies Championship
- 2017 PGA Championship
- 2017 Sony Open in Hawaii
- 2017 SBS Tournament of Champions
- 2017 THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES
- 2018 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational
- 2018 The Honda Classic
- 2019 BMW Championship
- 2019 THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES
- 2020 World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational
- 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions
After this period, Thomas has won two more tournaments, including the 2021 PGA Championship. However, his level has not been as dominant and he has also regressed significantly in the world rankings.