DUBLIN, Ohio — Before he embarked on his third round in the Memorial Tournament Saturday morning, Justin Thomas posted a GIF on X (formerly Twitter) from the 2007 film “Superbad,” that read, “sitting here eating alone like Steven Glansberg.”
After sneaking in a five-footer for par on the left side of the cup at 18 to make the cut on the number Friday afternoon, Thomas was first off Saturday as a single among the 53 players who survived the highest cut of the year—five-over-par 149—on the PGA Tour.
“Yeah, it’s a little bit of a different feeling,” the two-time major winner said. “That’s what I was going for [as a message].”
Thomas had reason to feel a bit forlorn. He knew what was in store with Muirfield Village Golf Club remaining firm and winds still swirling as he prepared to tee off at 8:30 a.m. ET. He’d barely survived the first two rounds playing alongside Rory McIlroy. When the pair had finished late Friday, they hugged instead of shaking hands, having shared a difficult day and managed to persevere.
Thomas had scrambled to a 75, while McIlroy, the reigning Masters champion, had carded a 74.
“We just looked at each other and I think we both, we were like, we need a hug,” Thomas said. “He probably realized I needed one [a hug] maybe more. It was a grind. It was a different grind for him, but, yeah, we were just battling out there.”
Thomas, who has top-25 finishes in his last four starts, including T-4 at the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, bogeyed his final hole Saturday to post an even-par 72 and sit at five-over 221 overall, moving up the board decently. Still he was none too happy, mostly because the storm that blew through central Ohio and caused a suspension of play for one hour, 44 minutes came after the world No. 16 player had completed 13 holes.
“It was a totally different golf course. Soft. No wind,” he said. “You’re off first you’re still thinking, ‘OK, made the cut on the number, you can still finish top five or top 10.’ I’m more bummed by the fact that the wind completely died, and I played 13 holes and now these guys are playing a lot softer, easier. That’s kind of the joy of being first off because you normally get no wind and an easier course. But I missed the window. But, you know, you’ve gotta play better.”
For the second year in a row the cut at Muirfield Village was five over par. Thomas said Friday’s round was “the hardest round of golf that I can remember, major, non-major.”
And Saturday? “It was still hard,” he said. “It’s just not as hard. Someone is going to shoot a number. It’s out there. I wish I was out there now.”