Justin Thomas Press Conference | 2024 PGA Championship Round 1

Justin Thomas’ press conference following Round 1 of the 2024 PGA Championship from Valhalla.

Subscribe now: https://bit.ly/PGAChampionshipYT

Contested each May, the PGA Championship is the second major championship in golf’s annual rotation, and perennially features the strongest field in the men’s game based on the Official World Golf Rankings. Known for dramatic finishes and notable champions, the Wanamaker Trophy—which has been awarded to the winner since 1916—is inscribed with names such as Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player.

The 2024 PGA Championship is set to take place between 13-19 May at Valhalla Golf Club. The reigning champion is Brooks Koepka.

Website: https://pgachampionship.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pgachampionship
X: https://twitter.com/pgachampionship
Instagram: https://instagram.com/pgachampionship/

Justin Thomas is joining us here at the 106 PJ Championship Justin round one in the books for you how’d it go out there today I felt like I I I played better than I scored um it was fun um it was it was a lot of fun felt a lot of great things out there a lot of positive uh encouragement um I mean you know he it it doesn’t help when you’re not making many putts in the sense of you feel like you’re not playing well but when you’re playing with one of the easiest nine unders you’ve ever seen uh it really makes you feel like you’re shooting a million so um I wasn’t really paying attention much to leaderboards and whatnot and but when I looked up and kind of saw where I was at I felt a little bit better about how I felt like I was making my way around the course and compared to the field and um yeah I mean I I easily could have shot four or five shots better today but I’m really proud of how I played that back nine to hang in there great thank you start with questions Jeff just on that opening te for you what was the mix of nerves and excitement um it was yeah it it was I’ve just i’ I’ve enjoyed it’s it’s been a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be it’s weird not that I didn’t think it would be enjoyable but I thought I would be way more nervous like I I I mean I was nervous on the first te today but like it’s just it’s just fun I mean I I’ve to be honest I feel like I’ve never had this many people root for me before so it’s a pretty good feeling to be perfectly honest um so it’s just really enjoyable I wish we had more tournaments in Louisville because I I like this but it was um yeah balancing the nerves and and the excitement and having zero idea where the ball was going because of the sun it was a strange opening t- shot we’ll go next to Mike two followed by seven hey Justin you referenced uh Xander a little bit in your in your opening comment but can you speak to what you saw out of him today and and what you know what that round was like to to be a having front see for I’d say it’s the same stuff that you know we’ve all been kind of watching on TV this year um or or in person and he just I mean Xander just he’s he’s such a complete player and um and this year he’s he’s hitting it even further so it’s like he’s you know as good as he drove it now he’s doing the same just 15 yards further uh and faster um he’s smart I’ve always thought he is one of the best demeanors out here which is obviously something that you can’t necessarily um just change overnight I mean he he just has no quit in him and he’s always hanging in there and staying patient and he’s just I mean he’s playing really really great golf right now so when he’s you know you feel like he’s one of those guys every time he teas it up right now he’s going to be in contention I could just follow on that I’m sure you’ve you’ve been in you know rounds like he was in with Rory the other day when Rory just had everything going and what does it show the you know I don’t know bounce back’s the right word or whatever to come back and do this just days after I’m sure he was extremely disint appointed on Sunday you know I’m sure he was but I and I mean I can’t I can’t speak for him but I I would say it was a lot easier you know Rory Bo bogeying 18 and what he one by four five something like that um or double whatever he made and so it’s that it’s hard to swallow but I mean Xander still would have had to go shoot what five or 600 win and like that’s it sucks not winning but he didn’t lose he got beat I think you know you can hang your head and really take into next week when you lose a golf tournament but I think when you’re right there and playing well and uh and you just get beat it’s almost a little bit it is more motivation I’d say and um and just kind of stick with what what he’s doing does does a two under like today where you feel like you played really well and didn’t get much out of it does that feel better than a two under where you kind of scrap it around and and make everything I don’t know I go back and forth on that I I it was weird I felt like I hit kind of a mixed bag I felt like I hit fair amount of good putts that didn’t go in that just needed a little bit more pace and then I I felt like I hit some just poor putts that I started offline right away so um I mean I would in my opinion I feel it’s I shouldn’t say it’s easier but you if I’m in a rhythm with my golf swinger I feel like I’m playing well it’s one of those things over four days I feel like I can potentially get a hot putter at least one day and and even if I just putt well or okay um I feel like I can find my way in contention versus sometimes when you’re if you’re not hitting it well you’re you’re scrapping it around sometimes you just can’t find it and it’s tough to so it’s harder to flip around the golf swing than the putting I would say it’s uh it’s easier for I I feel like for the ball to get in the way of uh or the hole to get in the way of the ball sometimes versus if you’re not swinging good it’s pretty hard to hit a you know a five iron from 215 yards where you want kind of thing go next to Mike 14 followed by 8 and 11 uh Justin when you’re playing with somebody who’s playing really well or I guess someone who’s playing poly how does that affect you and how do you manage it as you’re trying to focus on your round I like it a lot more than if everyone’s playing poorly I’ve been in in those kind of groups and uh sometimes the group MO is just so bad you feel like you can’t get anything going but um I mean it just was especially I mean I don’t think I didn’t hit first until the last hole today I mean but between I mean was Xander making so many birdies and I didn’t really make very many so it was like I I had a pretty good idea if I just followed Xander uh after the start he got on it was going to be a good finish for me so I think it’s better at least in my opinion when someone plays like that because you can almost feed off of them especially when you get crowds this big and uh energetic and so like group momentum you kind of mentioned it that is that is that kind of a thing I guess I I think so I’d be hard pressed to say anybody would say it’s not I think uh I mean I mean I think you see it often especially you know on the weekends or something maybe you get two guys in contention maybe haven’t been there or something like that and it’s like you kind of get off to a flat start and it’s just it’s hard to turn around um but when you kind of get things going and the ball’s going in the hole it’s sometimes kind of nice you feel like you’re almost like in a little match play Within A in the round kind of thing you said uh Sanders shot one of the easiest nine unders you’ve ever seen uh has your game ever felt that easy mhm what does it feel like easy like just look where you want it to go and it’s going to go right there and you feel like you should have shot 57 or eight and you shot what you shoot 62 um so yeah it’s fun but it’s really easy is it possible to be disappointed after shooting a 6 dude well golfers are disappointed no matter what they shoot that’s that is one thing that will never change we could shoot 56 and we should have shot 55 yo your opinion about the changes to the course and how much do you feel like that that challenged you today what’s that the changes to the course and and the challenges it posed for you today the the changes in what as uh I mean just lengthening the course uh any tweaks to the holes or anything like that um the green yeah I’d say yeah the challenges are just what what the course is uh the length I mean the fact that the greens are soft kind of takes away some of its uh defense but I mean xanders caddy Kaiser and I were saying on nine how how tough this place would be if the greens were could get firm and and really fast it would just be night Day a different golf course and but um you know there’s nothing we can do about the weather but it’s uh you know it’s long enough where you just have to hit a lot of really quality mid to Long irons and that’s something that we don’t have to do very often all right we got time for two more we’ll go over to Mike one followed by 16 Justin when you’re out there shooting the numbers you’re shooting how how easy is it not to get you know carried away in front of you you know going too far ahead in your mind a and then B after shooting around like this if you were Xander how hard is it to get that out of your mind and just put it to the side and just say okay now I got three more rounds to go uh for definitely in my opinion it’s hard to not get ahead of yourself I mean I I felt like I kind of did it after making those two birdies in a row I was like you know I got what I had five four holes left and was like you know this is a chance for me to you know I birdie three of these last four shoot four under when I feel like I didn’t you know I I didn’t play bad but I didn’t play great by any means and um and then lo and behold you Boogie the next hole so that kind of humbles you real quick but it just it’s it definitely is a place you have to stay in the moment because you can you can make Bogies on holes even if they’re easy holes just as quick as birdies but you know you look at some of the longer holes with the greens being soft if you get the right numbers and you’re swinging well you can still hit it close to the hole um And in regards to Xander yeah I’d say it is tough but um I know it’s hard but I I know that he would rather be in his position than mine and I think it’s just one of those things you just have to try to trust your game and have you know faith that he’s clearly playing well and um but for the rest of our sakes you know I hope he doesn’t shoot any more nine unders 16 uh Justin you mentioned being surprised how much you’ve enjoyed it here were you also surprised by your emotion when it was name the mayor claimed at Justin Thomas Day and um made you a Kentucky Colonel and and why why do you think it has been quite so impactful for you uh I I definitely was surprised the emotion that day I’ve uh I mean it was the hardest I’ve cried for happy tears I guess you could say um it it just was I could tell as soon as I got there and saw the banner I could just like feel the emotions hit me and I knew I was screwed I was like I’m I got no chance today this is going to be tough and you know just seeing people that were coming to support me and you know I I think I said it earlier this week is like I Louisville obviously means a lot to me but I think it actually you know it just it means more to me than I even thought and um it’s just there it’s a lot of little things you know whether it’s you know the high school I went to St X it’s like it you know I’m it’s kind of a Brotherhood and I’m still really close and best friends with some of my buddies I went to high school with and you know it’s everybody at Harmony where I grew up was so gracious and nice to both with my dad traveling and supportive of me and and my dreams of being here one day and so it’s uh yeah I think it’s just one of those things when it all kind of comes together and and maybe you know the past 30 years of my life were able to come together into like this one moment it’s it’s pretty it was pretty special all right thanks for your time Justin thanks