Justin Thomas continues with everything but winning.
He grabbed the lead in the back nine but coughed as he made two bogeys in his final three holes. Thomas handed the Valspar Championship title to Viktor Hovland, extending his unwinnable drought to almost three years.
“It's probably hard to sum up that now. I'm a bit hurting there from the end,” Thomas said.
“I take a lot of good stuff. The way, it's much better than the bad.”
Thomas scored his seventh birdie on the par 3 15th, climbing to 12 under par, extending Hovland's lead twice. However, he was reverted on hole 16. He pulled a tee shot that left the tree from the fairway, so he returned to normal. He was able to summon Bogie. Bogie was lucky enough to make it after a poor third shot from the fairway found a greenside bunker.
“I really felt like the only nervous swing I felt like a 16 wedge,” Thomas said.
“It was the only thing I felt was that. I was a bit uncomfortable at the moment. But I rebounded really well with a nice bunker shot and a nice putt.”
In the next hole, Thomas hit five irons 15 feet away, 17th in the par 3, featuring a long, narrow green. He had the opportunity to regain the stroke he had just lost, but his putt just passed the hole and settled him on par.
“It was one of my best swings of the day with 5 irons on 17, and somehow the putt didn't even get into 17,” Thomas said.
“So I'm very, very proud of myself. When you have a big opportunity near it, it won't win.
A difficult 18th bogey followed as Thomas missed another fairway. However, Hovland moved on the 18th. The difference was that the Norwegian played 16th and 17th holes with two under par, birding both, and Thomas played the two-hole stretch in one over.
“I felt like I had the opportunity to win the tournament once I made this cut,” said Thomas, who was one over with 36 holes.
“It was a really good opportunity, and I would have felt it when I filmed it. [a 66] Before the day began, that would have been enough. Viktor played an obviously incredible round. Birding 16 and 17. Yes, I have a lot of positive things. ”
Thomas must improve his accuracy from the tee. He was 108th in the PGA Tour with strokes he acquired from the tee and 104th in driving accuracy percentage, with short grass found at just 57%. His selfish tee shots bothered him as he spent the worst years of his career throughout the 2023 season. He missed a cut at Augusta National that year and was unable to make a weekend at Masters last year either.
However, the two-time PGA champions are 10th in the Tour on Strokes, earning in total and 16th in average scores. He has also won four top-10 finishes this year, with Corey Conners and Russell Henley the most on the tour. Thomas does so at a world class level. However, if he finds himself competing for himself at Augusta, Thomas' key is to play the ball from the tee. If he can do that, he would be a “better end” and perhaps it would be a “better” and a green jacket.
Jack Mirco is a golf staff writer who plays SB Nation. Follow him with x @jack_milko.
