Justin Thomas’ only Friday mistake at TPC Sawgrass cost him history

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — What a difference a day makes.

On Thursday at the Players Championship, Justin Thomas got out to a 2-under start through seven holes before the wheels completely fell off. He made a double-bogey five on 17 and found the water again on 18 to make triple. Thomas found the water two more times after he made the turn, carding a 6-over-par 78 while losing over nine shots to the field ball striking (off the tee and approach).

The 2021 Players Champion arrived at TPC Sawgrass on Friday needing to fire at least a 6 under to make the cut. He had other plans.

Thomas birdied his first two holes out of the gate and made the turn at 5 under for the day. Thomas got on the right side of the cutline with birdies at 11 and 12, and then he set his sights on a different mark — the course-record 62 that was set by Tom Hoge.

Thomas birdied 13, 14 and 16 and then fired a dart into the famed island green at 17. He calmly rolled in an 18-foot putt to get to 11 under on the day, raising his putter triumphantly while pointing back to his friends Rickie Fowler, Smylie Kauffman and Kevin Kisner, who were on NBC’s “Happy Hour” set just yards away.

After a nuclear display through 17 holes, Thomas needed a par at the 18th to hold the course record alone.

But golf is never straightforward, and Thomas’ chance at history was the victim of two poor swings on Pete Dye’s closing hole.

Thomas went right off the tee and found himself trying to play a low runner up near the front of the green. But the rough grabbed the face of the club and Thomas turned it over, sending the ball skidding across the fairway before diving into the pond.

Thomas dropped in the fairway and had 54 yards between him and the course record. He perfectly clipped his wedge, sending the ball toward history. It landed short of the pin and bounded forward but was a hair right, finishing 22 inches from the cup for a tap-in, course-record-tying bogey.

“It wasn’t,” Thomas said after the round when asked if the record was on his mind on 18. “I thought it was 62. I didn’t know. I just wanted to make another birdie, and then once I missed the fairway, birdie is kind of out of the question and then I was trying to hit something short of the green there and the rough grabbed the face enough to have it shoot out straight left, and with the momentum of that ball, it’s obviously going in the water.

“I’m in no way, shape or form letting that dwell on the great round I had today.”

Friday was a course-record-tying day to remember for Thomas.

He went nuclear for 17 holes. He is now first all-time with multiple rounds with 10 or more birdies or better at TPC Sawgrass. His 16-shot improvement from Round 1 to Round 2 is the most in Players Championship history, per Justin Ray. Thomas’ 9.43 strokes gained on Friday is the second most in Players history behind only the 10.59 gained by Ken Duke during his memorable 2016 round.

“That was one of the best rounds I’ve played, for sure,” Thomas said. “Mentally it was the biggest thing. I felt like I did an unbelievable job of just staying, keeping my eyes forward, keeping my blinders on, not looking backwards, forwards, anything like that. It was just, How can I put this ball in the fairway off the tee, and then how can I make birdie, and let’s rinse and repeat. I putted the ball beautifully, too. Just one of those days.”

But his only mistake of the day landed in a watery grave, and took his chance at history with it.