With a major victory and a couple Masters Tournament appearances under his belt, Justin Thomas has a grasp on how to handle what’s described as a mentally-tough week.
Thomas’ 2017 season is well-documented, having won PGA Tour Player of the Year honors after winning five times, including the PGA Championship in August. He became just the fourth player to win five tournaments, including a major, in a season before turning 25 years old.
So, the 24-year-old Alabama product already possesses a veteran approach to winning on Sundays, something that’s proven important on the second nine at the Masters each year.
“My dad's harped on me as well, just patience, patience, patience, and just really kind of waiting for something good to happen if nothing good is happening,” Thomas said. “I'm a big believer in whatever is meant to be is going to happen. If it is my week to win that week, it is. If not, there's not a whole lot I can do. But as long as I don't give any shots away and make any mental mistakes, then I gave all I could.”
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Thomas has rarely given shots away when in contention, and that’s continued leading up to this year’s Masters. He already has two wins this season, including The Honda Classic in February, and he finished second at the Mexico Championship in early March.
Despite his age, he has a mature frame of mind after two Masters appearances, including a tie for 22nd last year. The key is to limit mental mistakes, he said.
“It just requires a very strong mental week,” he said. “You need to be mentally sharp. You need to not make any stupid mistakes out there. If you get in trouble, make sure you get out and take advantage of the opportunities that you have.”
Part of his preparation this week was a Monday practice round with Tiger Woods and Fred Couples, who have won a combined five green jackets. Although Woods wasn’t as forthcoming with tips, according to Thomas, watching Woods and Couples practice around the greens was valuable.
“I pretty much would just watch where they were chipping and putting from and when they were done I would just take my balls and I would go do the same stuff,” Thomas said. “They know what they're doing out here, so either they were messing with me and I just hit a lot of unproductive shots, or hopefully I learned some stuff.”