Justin Thomas had a shot late last month at the US Open.
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Justin Thomas, he wants you to know, is exhausted. And bored. And “on top of that, of course.”
And even …
“It’s tough,” the fifth-ranked player in the world said this week. No immobilization podcast. “And I never thought I’d stay in bed so many nights thinking about this damn tour and what’s going on and all that.”
If you have followed golf news, even vaguely, you know what he is talking about without us even naming the subject. You might be fed up too, and that’s understandable. But the LIV Golf Series continues: they are playing their second event this week in Portland — and the resulting controversy pushes central characters like Thomas to try to make sense of it all for both himself and others, no matter how much he’d rather not.
No, JT isn’t going to star in the upstart, Saudi-backed series anytime soon; he’s as pro-PGA Tour as they come, but that, with his elevated status – he also won his second major this yearthe PGA – makes him a go-to source for his thoughts on the golf topic of the day, and No immobilization Podcast host Chris Solomon asked a thoughtful question about this:
How does Thomas perceive this role?
Good point. It’s a lot to take on. He responded, while also delving into LIV’s other thoughts. (This is where we advise you to listen to the entire podcast, which also covers Thomas’ PGA victory, his relationship with his caddy, Jim “Bones” Mackay, and Will Zalatoris.)
“I think about how involved I should be, how involved I shouldn’t be, what I should say, what I shouldn’t say, what I want to say, and what I know I don’t can’t say, and vice versa. of all these different things,” Thomas said on the podcast. “When it first happened and when it came out, guys, they’re going to do what they want to do, and yeah, I wish they hadn’t, but they did right to their own opinion and decision and so let it be that kind of thing. And I always think that way, but Jimmy Dunne… Did you read the article? — I thought he summed up everything that was happening here for me.
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“I understand that we give them everything to say and all that, but it’s just that, for them, saying that, it’s all for the betterment of the game and for them – to be all Honestly, I just wish one of them had the courage to say that I do this for the money. Personally, I would gain a lot more respect from it. But the more players continue to speak out and to say that it’s for the better of the game, the more agitated and irritated I become about it. Because I can’t imagine for someone like me, who is only in his seventh or eighth year on the Tour, and how important the Tour is to me, compared to someone like Rory McIlroy, who I’m sure has had other opportunities to do something like that. Look at Tiger, who had God knows how many opportunities and things to do something like this. But their loyalty and everything they stood for and pushed for was tied to this Tour.
“Like I know I feel this way, so I can’t imagine how strong they feel.” I’m sure they feel betrayed and hurt because, again, I kinda do. So the more I think about it, the more annoyed and agitated I get with the guys who did it. Once again, let it be so; they took their money and the Saudis reached their numbers, but like I said, I grew up my whole life wanting to play on the PGA Tour and play Ryder Cups and the Presidents Cup and any thoughts that this is not what is happening. it’s, it’s sad, to be perfectly honest in my eyes. And I just never want to get to that point, which is why I feel like I’ve spoken.
There’s a lot to unpack there – Thomas hears and blasts LIV’s talking points (you no doubt have a lot of doubts about “game growth”); Thomas wonders what the other stars think; Thomas wonders about a lesser Tour. And betrayal, something you don’t hear much about in golf, and Solomon asked where that would come from.
“Well, because it hurts our Tour,” Thomas said on the podcast. “And it hurts us. So I mean, that’s the problem with… I heard someone who brought up a good point, which is that he says that I’m sure that at some point, you know, Lawsuits will happen and if any of these guys that left go play the other tour, sue the Tour, they’re suing me, they’re suing Rory, they’re suing Tiger, they’re suing every one of us that they watched across the face, looked in the eye and played rounds of golf with, played on Cup teams with, shared moments, whatever, with and they chase us.
“For me, that’s where a little bit of betrayal and upsetting, sad feelings come from. Again, they’re doing what they clearly think is best for them, so they’re going to continue down that path in terms of lawsuits and so on, but when someone said it that way, it bothered me. hit a bit, damn, they do this at the Tour, but they also do this to me because I’m part of this Tour.
Say what you want about all this, but Thomas is being sincere here. We could even say it bluntly.
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That being said, Solomon then raised another interesting question:
“Do you think there’s still some coolness simmering under the surface about a lot of these things?”
At the Canadian OpenThomas was asked something similar – and he responded, in part, that “I don’t hate DJ (Dustin Johnson) now – but more LIV events are being played, more Tour players are leaving and the conversation is not doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
“I think it’s just one of those things where maybe if I walked past that person earlier and said, hey, or asked them how they were doing, maybe I wouldn’t do it again,” Thomas said on the podcast. “It’s not like something where, you know, I’m throwing them the bird, or trying to make their lives miserable any way I can.
“I’m just, you know, it’s one of those things, you, some people might not feel like they need to give the time of day anymore, that would be my only guess.”
