The night before Justin Thomas and his wife Jill gave birth to their first child, they received a kind phone call from one of their best friends.
Tiger Woods called Thomas to congratulate him. He also provided a healthy dose of reassurance and support that new parents need before making a big life change.
“He was unbelievable,” Thomas said of Woods.
“He always wanted to check in and see how I was doing. [my wife] How is Jill doing? [my daughter] Molly is doing it. ”
Woods and Thomas' “bromance” goes back a long way. The two major champions often spend time together in South Florida. They also plan to play practice rounds together in the majors. But their kinship extends far beyond the golf course.
No need to look at anything but the phone Thomas received it before becoming a father.which left him in disbelief.
“I hung up the phone, looked at Jill, and she said, 'I bet you never thought this would happen when you were a kid,'” Thomas said.
“I'm like, 'No, it's not that.'”
This week's Hero World Challenge marks Thomas' first start as a father. This will also be his first time traveling away from home, a somewhat difficult reality for the two-time major champion.
Asked if it would be difficult to leave the house this week, Thomas said: “For sure.”
“I told Jill that it was just weird. I mean, obviously when you're with a lot of your friends who have kids or you're watching them on FaceTime when they're home, It was really hard to explain that to Jill, but I just FaceTimed with my daughter, and it was just like, “I don't understand.'' It's really, really weird. Well, you just want to call and see her and find out how she and Jill are doing. It's like calling a friend and saying “hello,'' or calling a friend and saying “hello'' to Sammy and Sophie Spieth, or calling Ricky and saying “hello'' to Maya and Ellie. It's very different from.
“I don't know, it's very hard to explain. Luckily, we're going to travel together as much as we can, and that's our life and that's what it's like.” It's just that, and we're going to make the most of it and do the best we can.”
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
