Justin Thomas has revealed how he was “put in my place” by Tiger Woods as an attempted prank backfired at the Tour Championship a few years ago.
Woods and Thomas have traded good-natured blows several times over the years, with one of the funniest occurring ahead of the PGA Tour season-finale in 2020.
Thomas recalled playing the 18th at East Lake as he concluded a practice round, and he couldn’t resist giving Woods a subtle reminder about how he hadn’t qualified for the final event of the FedExCup play-offs.
But it was 15-time major champion, and five-time Masters winner Woods who had the last laugh in a video call with Thomas, leaving the Kentucky native in no doubt as to who was the golf boss!
Asked for his favourite memory of the Tour Championship ahead of this week’s tournament in Atlanta, Thomas had the media in tears of laughter with his response.
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“Probably my best memory, and I guess it would have been 2020, I remember playing a practice round and walking down 18 and FaceTiming Tiger, because he wasn’t here and didn’t qualify.
“I was just showing him how the course was and how great it was, and then he acted like his phone cut out. And then he called me back two minutes later with a Green Jacket on! I remember that very, very, very vividly.
“It was just a typical conversation, with me thinking I am having some kind of upper edge, and I get shut down and put in my place pretty quickly.
“There are a lot of golf things here and there that have obviously happened, but that’s the first thing that came to mind.”
The focus for Thomas this week is to upgrade his season from a B-minus to an A as he looks to finish an inconsistent campaign with his second win of the year.
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“It’s been a good year, but it’s kind of gone in waves,” said Thomas, who won the RBC Heritage in April but has enjoyed only two top-10 finishes since while missing the cut at the PGA Championship and the US Open.
“If I was to give the season a letter grade, some kind of B, I think, or maybe B minus. I definitely know a way that could trend it towards the A direction after this week. Hopefully we can change that letter grade.”
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