Justin Thomas the ‘lowest I’ve felt’ after 81 leaves him near bottom of 2023 U.S. Open field
LOS ANGELES – Justin Thomas said Friday that he’s at the “lowest I’ve felt” after nearly finishing last here at the U.S. Open.
Thomas, who carded rounds of 73-81 and was tied for 153rd in the 156-man field, said after the round that it was “humiliating and embarrassing” to miss the cut by 12 shots in the year’s third major.
It was also a surprise.
Thomas has been mired in a slump over the past few months but thought that he’d turned a corner in recent weeks. After an encouraging week of practice at home following the Memorial, Thomas said he showed up at Los Angeles Country Club – a venue that he believed fit his style of play well – and could “100% win this golf tournament.”
Full-field scores from U.S. Open
“I was playing the best I’ve played in a really long time this week, so funny game, man,” Thomas said. “It can leave you speechless, both good and bad, and right now it’s unfortunate. But once I’m able to reflect and figure out what I can learn and get better from, it’ll end up good. But it sucks right now.”
Thomas hasn’t won anywhere since the PGA 13 months ago – a rare drought for one of the game’s most consistent performers over the past half-decade. In his last 10 starts he hasn’t finished better than 10th, his world ranking dropping this year from eighth to 16th.
Thomas’ typically elite ball-striking has let him down this year, but never worse than at LACC, where he ranked last in the field in strokes gained: off the tee. He hit only 11 of 26 fairways, resulting in him finding just half of the greens in regulation. His putter was also cold, taking 64 putts across the two rounds.
“It’s all pretty shi–y when you shoot 14 over,” he said.
Thomas is expected to play next week at the Travelers Championship, another designated event on the PGA Tour schedule. He is also committed to play in the Scottish Open the week before the year’s final major, at Royal Liverpool.
“I’ll figure it out,” he said. “I have another major left. If I go win the British Open, nobody even remembers that I’ve missed the cut by a zillion here, so I’ve just got to find a way to get better and learn from this, and if I can, I don’t have to look at this week as a total failure.”