To nearly everybody’s surprise, Justin Thomas is contending at the top of the leaderboard after two rounds of The Players Championship.
That’s nothing against the 16-time PGA Tour winner’s ability, but Thomas is coming off the back of a 14-over par performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his first event back since undergoing back surgery.
He had the surgery just four months ago, and he’s already in contention at the PGA Tour’s marquee event at TPC Sawgrass. He’s T4, three shots behind the leading Ludvig Aberg heading into the weekend.
After his round, Thomas admitted that even he was surprised by his performance.
Why Justin Thomas surprised himself at The Players Championship
Thomas reflected on his second-round 68, which brought him to eight under for the tournament, saying, “I feel like we were out there for a long time. But no, it was solid. I definitely wasn’t as sharp. But I salvaged a really good round with I feel like not my best stuff.
“Yeah, it’s nice to birdie two of the last three and put myself in contention. It’s kind of all you can do at this point. So just keep trying to do the things I’m doing well. Just keep doing those and sharpen up on a couple things here and there.”
When asked if he was surprised by his level of play, he said, “A little. I’m four months today post-surgery. I said that to Jill this morning, my wife. It’s cool. I’m trying to – again, it’s very difficult to balance all of it, just the rehab, the expectations, the week-to-week doing the right thing, being smart.
“I think I would have loved to maybe go hit a couple balls yesterday afternoon or even tonight, but just starting up, I just don’t need to. It’s just trying to do all the things that I need to do, while also still trying to play really well and trying to win a golf tournament while I’m at it.
“Yeah, I’m proud of myself, getting myself in contention through two days. But got two days left to try to keep playing well.”
Justin Thomas admits to being ‘spacey’ at The Players
One of the biggest challenges Thomas has faced since his return from injury is his concentration troubles. He admitted last week that he’s not been able to completely lock in over the course of a five-hour round, and is struggling again this week.
When asked if his biggest problem has been physical or mental, he said, “Mental, for sure. I said that to Rev today on – what was it, kind of 13, 14? I just was like, ‘Man, I’m kind of starting to lose focus.’
“I get spacey, and it’s one of those you’re over the ball, and you’re somehow thinking about nothing. I’m not thinking about the shot I’m trying to hit, not thinking about the yardage I’m trying to hit it. It’s just, I get lost.
“I know it’s not the best thing to admit to, but it’s kind of the reality. So really just tried very hard to kind of take my breaks between shots, and then when it was our turn to hit, just get really honed in, focus on what I was trying to do, and then just rinse and repeat until I was doing.”
It’s a refreshingly honest evaluation, and probably something a lot of golfers face but don’t admit to. Hopefully, as the tournament goes on he’ll get used to focusing over an extended period of time.
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