Justin Thomas captured his fourth victory of the season and his first Major Championship this past weekend at the PGA Championship hosted by Quail Hollow. He started off the season by successfully defending his title at the 2016 CIMB Classic in Malaysia before winning back-to-back tournaments in Hawaii at the 2017 SBS Tournament of Champions and the 2017 Sony Open.
This latest victory was most likely the sweetest being the third generation of a family of PGA professionals, winning his first Major at the PGA Championship. Justin’s dad, Mike Thomas, is a PGA Tour professional at Harmony Landing in Louisville, Kentucky and a former member of the PGA’s board of directors. Justin’s grandfather, Paul Thomas, was a 60-year member of the PGA of America.
It definitely wasn’t an easy road to victory though as the leaderboard was packed all the way to the end. There were many story lines that made their way to the PGA Championship: Jordan Spieth aiming to complete the career grand slam, Hideki Matsuyama aiming to be the first male Major Champion from Japan, Rickie Fowler hoping to break through, Rory McIlroy (who drove the ball beautifully) hoping to get back into the Major Championship winner’s circle and more. All of the players just mentioned are in their 20’s which just shows what the state of the game is right now. The victories by Spieth at The Open and Thomas in consecutive majors was a milestone of sorts, the first time two players under the age of 25 won back-to-back since 1923, when Bobby Jones won The Open and Gene Sarazen captured the PGA Championship.
Thomas, who began the final round 2 strokes behind Kevin Kisner, played the last 12 holes in 4 under par with his only bogey coming at the 18th, a meaningless one that meant a 2-shot victory over Patrick Reed, Francesco Molinari and Louis Oosthuizen. Hideki Matsuyama finished T5 and was even led the tournament at one point – he was in the mix until the 16th when he bogeyed. Rickie Fowler also finished T5 and is another guy in search of his first Major. He made a sprint on the back-nine with four consecutive birdies but couldn’t keep it going, ending his tournament with three pars, ultimately finishing 3 strokes back. Every shot counts which makes his bogey/double-bogey/bogey finish on Saturday and a triple bogey he made during the opening round even that much harder to bear. You can bet that his time will come soon though!
In the video above, watch highlights from the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, SC. Up next, the players will focus on the FedEx Cup playoffs and the TOUR Championship!
Source: PGA.com
