Justin Thomas inks dedication to his late grandfather

Justin Thomas has a tiny tattoo on his left forearm, just below the elbow, as a tribute to his family. It has three vertical lines that represent his father, mother and himself, with a horizontal line above the middle one to form a “T” for Thomas.

He added a new one at the start of the year that is equally meaningful though rarely seen.

It’s the signature of his late grandfather, Paul Thomas, the first in a generation of golf professionals. That one is on the inside of his right upper arm. Thomas said he had the tattoo done shortly before his grandfather died in early February at age 89.

Getting the signature was the tricky part, so he called his grandmother.

“I said, ‘This is weird, but can you have grandpa sign something?’” Thomas said. “His signature is very Arnold Palmer-like, and I always remembered that. I asked her to send me a picture of it. She said, ‘Should I even bother asking?’ I told her no.”

Thomas said he sent a picture of the finished product, which was shown to his grandfather.

“He called me and said he would be charging me residuals every time he saw it on TV,” Thomas said with a laugh.