Amid the news that the USGA is shelving plans for a golf ball rollback until 2030, Justin Thomas agreed that decision is for the best.

The game's governing bodies agreed to the rollback U-turn with a joint statement from the USGA and the R&A as well as the PGA Tour and DP World Tour confirming that previous attempts to fix the distance issue in golf needed rethinking.

Now, players are sharing their thoughts on the matter, and Justin Thomas is firmly in the camp of those who are happy with the news.

The new, more patient and collaborative approach to testing golf balls and ensuring a fairer, more unified sport across the board is naturally a hot topic among those competing at the US Open this week.

Asked about the move, Thomas told Golf Channel: "It's great. I was very excited when I heard. I think all the players were.

"The players and the USGA have had their differences over the years, but they'd be crazy to think differently after talking to the players.

"It's about realizing what's going on and understanding... the idea of things needing to be done isn't incorrect, but how they were going about it wasn't fixing it."

Explaining why the rollback was doomed to fail, at least in its previous iteration, Thomas added: "The problem with people hitting it too far... if I hit it ten yards shorter overnight, I'm not going to hit 3-wood I'm just going to hit driver.

"I'm actually going to try and hit it further because I'm hitting it shorter. If anything, in my opinion, it was making problems worse.

"It was bringing more drivers into people's hands, and that's just how the game is now. We are trained to hit the best with what we've got. If you tell us we'll hit it shorter, we'll find a way to hit it further."

The rollback was always going to be a gamble, and getting it right, no matter how long that takes, is crucial.

The PGA Tour surveyed players about the issue not so long ago, with potential for making its own rules regarding ball testing.

Now, we will see what USGA CEO Mike Whan described as a "small, digestible bite" towards a "simpler, more narrow solution" through collaboration, rather than rules being forced on players that they cannot agree with.

What the solution actually is remains to be seen. Michael Kim believes bifurication is the way forward, with professionals and amateurs using different equipment naturally leading to more skilled "shotmaking" becoming the order of the day. Kim also suggested reducing the number of clubs in the bag from 14 down to 10.

It seems all ideas are now back on the table.

Claiming the coveted PGA Championship title is one of the four steps any golfer needs to take if they want to become a Grand Slam winner.

The second Major of the golfing season is unique in that it's the only Major that only allows professionals to compete, giving it an extra air of prestige.

The event has been running since way back in 1916, when a match play format was used, before converting to strokeplay in 1958 and becoming the tournament we know and love today.

Of course, with great prestige comes great payouts, and the PGA Championship purse is naturally among the biggest in the golfing world.

Winning the Wanamaker Trophy is one thing, but landing a share of the huge purse is a very nice bonus indeed.

While Jack Nicklaus holds the records for the most wins at the PGA Championship (during the strokeplay era), he doesn't come close to featuring on the all-time list of top earners from the event.

Interestingly, when we look at the top 10 earners in PGA Championship history, there are two golfers who haven't actually won the tournament.

Justin Rose takes tenth place, with earnings of $3,540,011 across a whopping 23 events. The British star's best finish at the PGA Championship was a tie for third back in 2012, which earned him $384,500.

Bryson DeChambeau is also on the list in seventh with earnings of $4,636,217. He's racked up that impressive amount from just eight involvements in the PGA Championship, with back-to-back second place finishes in 2024 and 2025 earning him $2,837,332 alone.

It probably doesn't come as much of a surprise, at least when you really think about it, that Brooks Koepka is at the top of the PGA Championship money list. He's won the tournament more than anyone else in the past couple of decades with three triumphs coming in 2018, 2019, and 2023.

Koepka is clear out in front, too, with earnings of $9,456,726 from 13 events putting him well ahead of Tiger Woods, who comes in second place with winnings of $7,354,862 from 23 events.

Woods did win the tournament four times (in 1999, 2000, 2006, and 2007), but the money on offer back then is nothing compared to where the game of golf is now.

With 32 involvements, Phil Mickelson is the golfer in the top 10 who has featured in the PGA Championship the most, and his earnings of $6,510,066 put him third in the all-time list.

That's not much of a shock considering Lefty also made the cut in 27 out of those 32 events with two victories.

He's followed by another two-time winner, Rory McIlroy. His wins in 2012 and 2014 earned him a combined $3,245,000 towards his total of $6,349,228 over the years.

Rounding out the top five is 2025 PGA Championship winner Scottie Scheffler. That win secured Scheffler $3.42m last year, and he's already earned $6,152,768 from just six events.

The rest of the top 10 includes Justin Thomas ($5,672,581) thanks to his two victories at the PGA Championship in 2017 and 2022.

2015 champion Jason Day ($4,369,608) is in eighth place and Xander Schauffele, who won in 2024, comes in ninth with earnings of $4,363,822 across nine involvements in the PGA Championship.

Another triumph this year for McIlroy or Scheffler would send them to the top of the pile ahead of Koepka, but that man will be desperate to add a fourth title to his name and extend his lead at the top of the money list.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational will see many of the best golfers in the world showing what they can do at Bay Hill Club and Lodge, and there are two big names returning to the field.

The action at Bay Hill begins on Thursday, with Russell Henley looking to defend his title. But, with in-form newcomers like Jacob Bridgeman and Chris Gotterup hunting for more wins, and top players like Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler always lurking, it won't be easy to pick a winner for the Arnold Palmer this year.

For every big name missing the Arnold Palmer, there are more returning to action, with Sungjae Im one of the standout players we've not seen for quite some time.

We haven't seen Sungjae Im since October, with a wrist injury keeping the Korean player out of action for months.

He was originally scheduled to be back for the Houston Open later this month, but the lure of the API was clearly too much to resist.

Im has access to all the Signature Events this season thanks to placing 27th at the Tour Championship last year, and he's not wasting any time in getting back into the swing of things.

It also seems he's also going to be sporting a new look. Im was pictured wearing a fresh Malbon outfit on Tuesday as he put in some practice ahead of the event.

It's since been confirmed by the brand that Im is indeed their latest signing. Sharing a post on Twitter/X on Wednesday, Malbon wrote: "Proud to welcome Sungjae to Team Malbon."

Malbon has big names on its roster like World No.3 Charley Hull and former World No.1 Jason Day, and recently agreed a deal with Anthony Kim as an investor.

Im is not the only man returning to the field after a long absence, though. Justin Thomas will be back on the course for his first involvement in a tournament since the Ryder Cup.

He had microdiscectomy surgery in November of last year but is ready to get going again now. The two-time PGA Championship winner is also expected to be sporting fresh apparel, after he was seen without his usual Greyson logo during a TGL match last week.

Thomas confirmed his place at the Arnold Palmer last week, and has been a busy boy since. He teed up at TGL late last month, and was in Florida this week to represent Atlanta Drive once more.

Could Justin Thomas follow Tommy Fleetwood in becoming a golf apparel free agent?

The two-time Major champion will make his PGA Tour return after back surgery next week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and it looks like he'll be without his usual apparel supplier.

Thomas has been with Greyson Clothiers since 2022 but as he prepares to get back out on Tour the wolf logo he's been sporting since then seems to have disappeared.

The 32-year-old was in action for Atlanta Drive in the TGL recently and was wearing just a plain white polo shirt, with his sponsors' logos for Lineage and Energy Transfer, but no sign of Greyson.

There's been no official word, but Greyson is not on Thomas' own personal website as a partner while his name is also missing from the manufacturer's own golfer line-up on their site.

Fleetwood's situation has been a talking point on the PGA Tour this season as he's taken a fresh approach since ending his deal with Nike.

The FedEx Cup champion has decided to wear whatever he feels like during his early season tournaments - even going to the pro shop at Pebble Beach and wearing that famous logo as well as sporting some Masters gear while out in the Middle East.

“I think for now, I do have the luxury of trying different things, wearing different things, and I think I'll just take it from there, from this point onwards," said Fleetwood of his current free agent clothing status. "But it's been nice. And yeah, plenty of people have mentioned it.

“It's just something different. I have been with one company for a very, very long time, and they were absolutely amazing, and just at this point it's a bit different, and I'm wearing a few different things.

“I guess over time, I'll see if there is a particular way that I want to go with what I want to wear. But for now, it's just trying things and seeing what happens.”

Being a former World No.1 and two-time PGA Championship winner, Thomas would also be hot property on the open market if his deal with Greyson has in fact ended.

Whether Thomas will dive right into a new deal quickly or go a similar way to Fleetwood and enjoy some freedom remains to be seen.

Unlike Fleetwood, who doesn't have any other sponsorship logos to display, Thomas does need to include his two on any shirts he may opt to wear so is a bit more restricted.

So we may not see Thomas joining Fleetwood in the pro shop at Bay Hill when he makes his PGA Tour comeback next week, but his outfit choice will be something to watch out for.

The field for this week's Cognizant Classic is very different to last week's Genesis Invitational - that much is undeniably true.

Some have called the PGA National line-up "weaker" while the theory that the PGA Tour feels more like a two-tier tour than ever before is difficult to argue against.

The Genesis Invitational - which was a Signature Event - featured all of the world's top-10, 18 of the top-20 and 41 of the top-50 all packed into its 72-man field. Max Homa at World No.148 was the lowest-ranked player.

Meanwhile, there are set to be no players inside the world's top-20 teeing it up at PGA National for the regular tour event following Ben Griffin and Jacob Bridgeman withdrawing, with World No.26 Ryan Gerard the top-ranked player. The Cognizant Classic took another blow when Adam Scott became the latest big name to withdraw.

But why are so many of the world's brightest stars choosing to sit this one out? It's probably not just because the overall payout drops from $20 million to less than $10 million, although that may not help.

It is much more likely the calibre of pro playing this week has dropped by a small level simply because of where the Cognizant Classic sits in the schedule.

The Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational marked consecutive Signature Events on the PGA Tour. Then comes the Cognizant Classic.

After that, there is another Signature Event in the Arnold Palmer Invitational before The Players Championship - the most prestigious non-Major in the world and the most lucrative tournament anywhere.

As a result, players basically have to choose between playing at least five weeks in a row or taking one event off to ensure they're fully fit for the tournaments they do play.

Touching on the issue after Atlanta Drive's TGL double-header on Monday night, Billy Horschel expressed great empathy towards one of his home-state tournaments.

However, the Florida-born pro admitted the problem has been active for many years already and the Cognizant Classic is far from the only tournament which is victim to this issue.

Horschel said: "Listen, it's tough with any tournament on the PGA Tour schedule, outside of Signature Events, due to a multitude of reasons.

"We had this issue before the Signature Events were around. We've always had this issue.

"A decade ago this event was unbelievable with the field, but where it fell in the schedule was really good for a lot of the guys that lived here. It wasn't on the back end of an LA or a Riviera.

"This field has sort of been up and down the last couple years. When you've got so many events on the PGA Tour schedule and you've got guys trying to figure out where they're going to fit, it's tough to fill a field.

"It's just tough. It's [not just] Cognizant; there's a whole bunch of other tournaments that are struggling."

Tournaments like the Cognizant Classic missing out on the world's top talent may prove to be a thing of the past if PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp and the rest of the Future Competitions Committee press forward with their reported plans to significantly shake up the season.

There has been talk of a post-Super Bowl start, the removal of Signature Events and an emphasis on 'scarcity' - but as yet nothing is concrete.

2018 Honda Classic (now Cognizant Classic) winner Justin Thomas called the difficulty of choosing a schedule in the current climate "a great problem to have" but admitted the PGA Tour's set-up means some events are always going to miss out on the top names.

Speaking after his return from surgery in a TGL double-header on Monday night, Thomas was asked if the Cognizant Classic needs to shift to a different spot in the season if it's to draw a stronger field.

He said: "Yeah, I mean, there's obviously a lot of arguments or a lot of different reasons, I guess. But... it's a bummer.

"It's one of those events that it has fallen at an unfortunate time in the schedule. I think it's both a great thing and a bad thing of our schedule, how great it is and the amount of great golf courses that we go to.

"It kills me that I can't play Torrey Pines every year. Like Torrey Pines South to me is such a great golf course. It fits my eye so well. I like the North Course, but I can't play in it every year.

"Or Colonial is an event in the past where -- I love Colonial. I think that golf course is incredible, but I can't play four or five in a row. It's unfortunate.

"It's a great, great problem to have, but it's just one of those things the way that guys need to play certain events or feel like they give themselves the best opportunity to win and make the most points as possible. It's just kind of where it falls kind of thing."

Following a five-month break from golf, Justin Thomas has revealed when he plans to make his comeback on the PGA Tour.

The two-time Major winner last played a PGA Tour event at the Procore Championship in early September, struggling to a 69th-place finish at Silverado Resort's North Course, before going on to compete admirably for Team USA at the Ryder Cup later in the month.

However, defeat to Team Europe would be the last time Thomas appeared on the golf course until Monday night's TGL double-header for Atlanta Drive.

The 32-year-old underwent microdiscectomy surgery in November after suffering from a "nagging" hip pain for a few months towards the end of the 2025 campaign.

Recovery from such a procedure typically takes around three months, and Thomas was right on track after sharing he was cleared for full golf activity earlier in February.

In the aftermath of a 5-2 win over Boston Common and a 7-3 defeat to Los Angeles Golf Club in TGL on Monday, Thomas shared he would be teeing it up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational next week - marking his official return to tour action.

But because Bay Hill is among the toughest of layouts - even for the most tuned-up pros - Thomas admitted he will have to manage his expectations at a tournament where he only has one top-20 in five starts (T12th - 2024).

He said: "I want to and would love to play well next week but I'm also understanding it'll be five, six months since I played a competitive tournament.

"So I'm not exactly expecting anything great. At least everybody else will be struggling with me at Bay Hill so that will make me feel a little bit better hopefully."

Thomas shared his recovery has been completed without a hiccup so far and he has been practicing with a full-speed swing since he clearance in early February.

In the meantime, building up reps has been the priority for the 16-time PGA Tour winner as he aims to hit the ground running midway through the Florida Swing.

Thomas continued: "The rehab has been good. It's really just been about getting used to playing more, walking golf courses when I'm playing. I've been able to practice pretty normal for at least a month.

"I'll still run into stuff here and there, situations I haven't been in a while. My first time (in the TGL match) it hit in a fairway bunker. I haven't been in a fairway bunker in like four months.

"Just trying to play and get out there as much as I can. Different winds, different grasses, different lies, different scenarios."

It's not just Thomas and his fans who are excited to see the charismatic pro back on the course, Ryder Cup rival Rory McIlroy admitted it was "great" to see the Louisville-born golfer in PGA Tour action once again.

McIlroy said: "Obviously, he's been one of the best players over the last decade, and it always sucks when you have to go through something like that and have surgery, but it looks like he's come out the other side and looks like he's feeling pretty good. It's great to have him back."

Both Thomas and McIlroy are expected to line up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational next week, which begins on Thursday, March 5.

Justin Thomas has given his latest update on his recovery from back surgery and for the first time, he has outlined a tentative timeframe for a return to competitive action.

The two-time PGA Champion hasn’t played since the Ryder Cup, having undergone a microdiscectomy for a disc problem in his back in November.

At that point, he refused to give a timeline for his return, writing on Instagram: “I’m not putting any tournament on the calendar or specific time for returning.

“While I will miss some events in the beginning of 2026, I want to be very smart and patient in letting my disc fully heal so it isn’t an issue again.”

Until now, Thomas has kept his word, although the former World No.1 has offered regular progress reports on his recovery, including earlier in January, when he posted a video on Instagram of him making full swings.

A week on, Thomas has given his most promising update yet, and suggested a return to PGA Tour action in late February or March could be in the offing.

Thomas posted a series of videos on Instagram showing him in the gym and out on the course, and wrote: “10 weeks post surgery today… feeling good! Recovery has gone well. I’m slowly building back my strength and conditioning in the gym, and also hitting wedges/short irons.

“Little victories and patience have been the biggest part of the process. Taking it slow and listening to how I’m feeling each day.

He added: “I’m looking to come back competitively at some point during the Florida swing. I know how important it is to get this injury behind me so that I’m only looking forward over the course of the season.”

The Florida Swing begins with the Cognizant Classic at PGA National, which gets underway on February 26th. It continues the week after with Signature Event the Arnold Palmer Invitational before The Players Championship, which Thomas won in 2021, begins on March 12th.

The Florida Swing concludes with the Valspar Championship at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, which takes place between March 19th and 22nd.

In 2025, the Florida-based star played in the latter three events, which marked his last action before the first Major of the year, The Masters at Augusta National.

While it is unclear at what stage of the Florida Swing we are likely to see Thomas return to action, when he does, he will hope to build on a successful 2025 that included his first victory since 2022, at the RBC Heritage, when he beat Andrew Novak in a playoff.

Justin Thomas appears to be making good progress in his recovery from back surgery, with the two-time PGA Champion posting a video on Instagram showing him making a full swing.

The American announced he had undergone a microdiscectomy for a disc problem in his back in November.

At the time, he refused to offer a timeline for his return, writing on Instagram: “I’m not putting any tournament on the calendar or specific time for returning.

“While I will miss some events in the beginning of 2026, I want to be very smart and patient in letting my disc fully heal so it isn’t an issue again.”

Nevertheless, Thomas, who hasn’t played since September’s Ryder Cup, has kept fans updated on his progress throughout his recovery.

In December, he posted videos of his rehab and explained he’d been able to start a rehab schedule of three days a week, four weeks after the surgery.

In early January, he offered a further update, this time with a video of him back on the course, accompanied by the message, “Feels nice to *slowly* work my way back. Happy to be back out chipping and putting!”

Now, he has stepped up his comeback plans further with another video showing him making a full swing.

Whenever Thomas does return to PGA Tour action, he will be hoping to continue where he left off after an impressive 2025 season.

Thomas finished runner-up twice last year, at The American Express and the Valspar Championship, before winning his first title anywhere since the 2022 PGA Championship when he beat Andrew Novak in a playoff at the RBC Heritage.

It was also the year Thomas returned to the world’s top 10 after a prolonged spell out of it following a slump in form.

Thomas was also one of Team US’s few bright lights in the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, where he claimed two points from his four matches, including victory in the singles session over Tommy Fleetwood as Keegan Bradley’s men came close to a monumental comeback win.

With Major season looming and the Presidents Cup coming later in the year, the latest update offers hope that Thomas will return to action in the not-too-distant future, with plenty to play for as the season continues.

Justin Thomas has attempted to clarify comments he made about Ryder Cup green speeds earlier this week after a reported Bethpage Black staffer responded angrily less than 24 hours later.

More than two months after Team Europe's 15-13 success over Team USA at Bethpage Black, Thomas appeared on the No Laying Up podcast to discuss a range of topics - from the Ryder Cup to his injury and his past year on tour.

In amongst a fascinating chat was the two-time Major winner's comments about the pace of the putting surfaces at Bethpage Black and how they were apparently not what had been requested by the Americans ahead of time.

This, according to Thomas, caused an argument between members of Team USA and an external party and Team Europe took advantage of the conditions and more efficient preparation to put themselves in a commanding position through two days.

The home side fought back valiantly in the Sunday singles, led in part by Thomas' 1up win over Tommy Fleetwood, but it was too little, too late as Luke Donald's men clung on to victory.

Asked on No Laying Up if the greens were as slow as broadcasters had claimed on the coverage, Thomas said: "Yeah, I don't really understand that. I don't know why they weren't at all what Keegan had asked for.

"I mean, he had been pretty clear of asking for a certain speed and wanting it fast enough. I watched them argue with us that they were 13s [on the stimp].

"And it's like, 'guys, we play golf every week, like, look on TV at how many guys are leaving putts short. Nobody is getting... You can't have a putt, roll, three feet, four feet past the hole. Like these greens are slow, speed them up.'

"And it was just bizarre because that's not something you would expect at a home Ryder Cup."

Shortly after Thomas' thoughts went online, Rick Golfs (@Top100Rick) posted on X to say that he had received a text from an anonymous member of the greens crew at Bethpage.

Said staffer was extremely unhappy at the 32-year-old's take on the situation and spared no feelings in his riposte, saying: "They can argue with numbers all they want but these are concrete, collected numbers that cannot be argued with. Data is data, not an opinion. Player perception is an opinion.

“There was ZERO conversation between captains and the grounds crew during tournament week, and that is at the fault of Keegan.

"We would have welcomed him with open arms any day or time (we were there 24/7) and only spoke with him directly ONCE - weeks before the event.

"If there was a problem, it should have come from him in practice rounds (that they failed to play) when they would have realized they didn't like the speed.

“They still lost, and they still can't accept it. Two months later and the excuses keep rolling.

"The grounds crew wanted to win more than any player on that American team. Quite frankly, it meant more to the Bethpage staff and the state of New York than anyone else.

"Learn to practice and compete as a team, or JT will continue to scrap together excuses in 2026.”

Having seen the Bethpage staffer's comments, Thomas then went on the PGA Tour's Sirius XM radio to try and set the record straight - even going so far as to say he agreed with the anonymous staffer's feelings on a certain aspect.

Thomas said: "It's unfortunate things get lost in translation or the context is not there. I don't feel that I ever said anything about this being the greens crew's fault.

"This is all obviously to my knowledge, the captain doesn't have communication with, say, the superintendent or the greens crew.

"Obviously [the captain] knows them, but Keegan is not going to the superintendent at Bethpage asking what he's done because - I would assume - for certain reasons that could probably get out of hand a little bit.

"And the PGA of America is still setting up the golf course and doing things, so they need to know what's going on.

"It was more so with whoever the communication [was] with Keegan. And, honestly, I think the point that the greens crew made [in the text] is exactly my point.

"I know for a fact that Keegan was asking for a certain thing or a certain speed and the fact that never got relayed to them kind of proves the point I was trying to make."

More than two months after Team USA's 15-13 defeat to Team Europe at the Ryder Cup, the fallout is continuing with details from the American camp regarding an unfavorable course set-up at Bethpage Black.

Justin Thomas shared with the No Laying Up podcast this week that Team USA were left unhappy with the speed of the putting surfaces at the Farmingdale, New York layout despite specific instructions from captain Keegan Bradley ahead of time to make them around 13 on the stimpmeter.

Traditionally, green speeds on the PGA Tour are a little faster than those on the DP World Tour. And although many of Luke Donald's side regularly appear on US soil, the hosts still felt they could gain an advantage by having slicker greens.

However, the target areas were apparently significantly slower than players had expected and one of the USA's potential advantages was taken away as Europe raced into an almost unassailable lead through the first two days.

And, according to Thomas, this situation led to arguments between Team USA and the Bethpage Black greenkeepers during the event itself.

Asked whether the greens were as slow as analysts and commentators had suggested at the time, Thomas said: "Yeah, I don't really understand that.

"I don't know why they weren't at all what Keegan had asked for. I mean, he had been pretty clear of asking for a certain speed and wanting it fast enough. I watched them argue with us that they were 13s [on the stimp].

"And it's like, 'guys, we play golf every week, like, look on TV at how many guys are leaving putts short. Nobody is getting... You can't have a putt, roll, three feet, four feet past the hole. Like these greens are slow, speed them up.'

"And it was just bizarre because that's not something you would expect at a home Ryder Cup."

Thomas, who secured two points from four matches at Bethpage courtesy of a thumping four-ball win alongside Cam Young on Friday and a gutsy singles victory over Tommy Fleetwood, was quick to admit that Team Europe were the better of the two teams.

The American did, however, share his mild frustration over losing a potential edge out of the gate due to conditions not being as requested.

He continued: "And again, that's not an excuse, they [Team Europe] had to adjust to them just as much as we did.

"But that's kind of a fun advantage you generally have is like being able to do that a little bit, and it was just so frustrating that we were being fought with and argued with on the speed of the greens that we asked for. So, that was bizarre."

In the meantime, Thomas is continuing his rehabilitation after undergoing microdiscectomy surgery last month, a procedure his good friend Tiger Woods has experienced several times over the years.

Also on the No Laying Up podcast, Thomas explained he is likely to miss "a couple of events" next year and shared an update on the current state of his health.

Thomas said: "I’ll probably miss a couple of events in ’26. It’s so weird. I walk completely fine. I feel like I could go walk as much as I possibly want right now, but I can’t do anything.

“So the weirdest part is not doing anything because I’m not supposed to, not because I physically can’t.”

The US Open at Oakmont will be a brutal test, including the longest par 3 in the tournament's history, but are these extra long 'short' holes any good?

The eighth hole at Oakmont is the longest par 3 ever played in US Open history, measuring 300 yards in 2007 and then 299 yards in 2016 - and although down as 289 yards on the card it could hit that 300 mark again.

But is that too long? Many of the iconic par 3s in the world are much shorter - the 12th at Augusta National, the 17th at TPC Sawgrass and the Postage Stamp at Royal Troon to name a few.

And many believe that par 3s should be a test of the short game, not the long, with Justin Thomas and Viktor Hovland among them.

"Yeah, I couldn't tell you a par 3 over 250 yards that's good, I would say, architecturally," said Thomas ahead of The Memorial Tournament.

"Obviously, you have 16 at Cypress Point is pretty special, but I definitely think there's some potential viewing reasons that makes it, you know, a great hole.

"So I'm a big short par 3 guy. I think a lot of us and - a lot of players and people that watch golf are. Yeah, I just, that's my opinion."

And Thomas says he's not the biggest fan of the eighth at Oakmont that he'll face again in the US Open.

"Yeah, that's not my favorite hole in the world," he admitted. "I think you could do some other things with that.

"But everyone's going to have to play the same hole and going to have to execute the same shots, and I would love four 3s on it right now if I could take it."

Hovland is one of those players who agrees with Thomas that making a par 3 longer doesn't always make it better.

"I just think all the best par 3s are under 200," said Hovland. "You can maybe have it just over 200, but as soon as you start to take head covers off on par 3s, I just think it gets a little silly."

And Hovland has also played the eighth at Oakmont, which he says isn't "that great" due to the length it will play at.

"Yeah, man, that's a hard hole because it's, like, you got to be so precise from back there, and you're hitting a 3-iron or I hit a 7-wood a couple times," said Hovland.

"I just don't think when you have to make a hole that long, it just doesn't become that great.

"It just becomes like, okay, you got a certain target here and then you got to hit a shot around there and make a par and get out of there instead of a shorter par 3 that entices you to get close to it, but if you're a little bit off, you're either in the water or in a short-sided spot or if you bail out, yeah, you still have a tricky little putt."

'The memorable ones are the shorter ones'

Collin Morikawa is another PGA Tour star who prefers par 3s to be shorter and promote taking on more risk.

"I don't think anyone's really a big fan of them. I think the only fun one to play is Cypress Point, 16, because it's beautiful. View's beautiful, the hole itself is just tough.

"So I think the memorable ones are the shorter ones. They're the ones that have risk and reward, right. I think when there's risk, we like risk, because we like taking it on.

"Risk can be involved with a sand wedge, it can be involved with an 8-iron. I think when you just have 250 yards and you just start looking at dispersion, that's not really risk, that's just, we're just playing odds on is everyone's dispersion going to be wider.

"I would rather take on more risk, have everything a little tighter. You just have to hit a golf shot, versus me teeing up 3-wood."

Over the last year, Justin Thomas has recovered from a loss of form to re-establish himself as one of the world’s very best players, most recently with victory at the PGA Tour’s fifth signature event of the season, the RBC Heritage.

Three weeks on from that success, Thomas will play in the next signature event on the schedule, the Truist Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club. Before teeing it up at the venue, Thomas explained why one club he has relied on for a decade will not be leaving his bag anytime soon.

Thomas, who is a Titleist staffer, has often turned to the manufacturer’s 915Fd 5-wood to help him on his way to his huge successes, including 16 PGA Tour wins. That's despite newer fairways woods released during that time, with the 917 series, TS series, TSi series, TSR series and GT series. Asked if he would be looking to get a new fairway wood in the bag, he was adamant: “I'm not. I think there's definitely a reason it's been in there.”

But what does Thomas’ 5-wood of choice, which was released in 2014, offer that newer alternatives don’t? Thomas explained: “It doesn't necessarily have as much to do with not being able to hit the newer stuff well or like how it performs. It's more of just how it performs distance-wise is what I need.

“I've hit a couple of the latest 5-woods, like the last couple editions or launches, and they just go a little bit further than I would like in a 5-wood. It's just kind of a perfect club for me, I feel like. It's unique in the sense that I feel like I can hit it 230 yards if I need to, but I can hit it 265 in the air if I need to.”

Thomas also revealed he’s well stocked for heads for some time to come, adding: “If you get a good one, it's tough to replace. I have a handful of heads left and I definitely won't be giving anybody any of them to try any time soon.”

Thomas gave a recent example of when having the fairway wood helped him out – the Genesis Invitational. He explained: “I hit it from like 165 yards out of the rough at Torrey Pines this year. When it was raining, it was miserable, and I'm looking down in the rough, like I can't get an iron out of this, and I'm not going to hit a sand wedge and chip it out.

"Like I know I can just lay open this 5-wood, and I can kind of get it up around there, and I hit it to like 15 feet. I always joke that some people go 5-wood or 2-iron, and I'm like I definitely couldn't have done that with a 2-iron.”

This week, Thomas will be putting it to the test at the Truist Championship’s temporary home while regular venue Quail Hollow is prepared for the PGA Championship. The chance to play a new course is a challenge he’s looking forward to. He said: “It's really cool. I love these kinds of designs. They're fun. They obviously - there's bits and pieces that are very - they're very specific in terms of what the conditions give us.”

Whatever happens in Pennsylvania this week, Thomas’ attention will then turn to the Major, which he won for the first time at Quail Hollow in 2017. He admitted that another strong performance this week would set him up nicely for his tilt at a third PGA Championship title.

He added: “Obviously I do want to play well and want to give myself a chance to win, and at the same time, it is a chance to try to just kind of keep building a little bit more each and every day to get it to where we're playing well and feeling great about everything come next week as well.”

RBC Heritage champion, Justin Thomas has confirmed he will not be replacing regular caddie, Matt Minister with stand-in, Joe Greiner despite picking up his first PGA Tour victory since 2022 on Sunday.

Thomas claimed his 16th PGA Tour prize via a playoff at Harbour Town, rolling home a beautiful birdie putt at the first extra hole to see off Andrew Novak and deny the South Carolina native his maiden tour success.

The new World No.5's first win since 2022 arrived with Greiner on the bag after Minister took time off to deal with a back injury which kept him from looping at The Masters earlier this month.

The minor medical issue occurred around the same time that Greiner split with Max Homa, who had struggled with a loss of form since his own last win at the end of 2023.

As a result of Thomas needing a temporary caddie and Greiner without a full-time bag, the pair ended up working together at Augusta National - where they managed a T36th result - before an incredible week at the latest Signature Event where Greiner likely collected a six-figure bonus check.

Despite the dream display, Thomas confirmed to Sirius XM's Drew Stoltz and Colt Knost that he was eager to have Minister back as soon as possible

“We all knew that going in – it was very much a fill-in situation,” he said. “We were so lucky that Joe was available until Rev [Minister] got healthy. I love Joe to death, but I’m very excited to have Rev back.”

Thomas will have a little more time for his caddie to heal due to not being among the field for this week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans, allowing him further chance to revel in a win which may not have arrived if not for the help of Greiner.

In another interview with Dan Rapaport's Dan On Golf Show, Thomas was asked by the journalist how important Greiner was during the key moments on Sunday, such as the final hole in regulation and the first sudden death playoff hole.

The Louisville, Kentucky-born pro replied: "He was great. That was the most important thing of deciding - or trying to decide - last week, if I were to play well [then I needed to] be comfortable, or somewhat comfortable, with who I was with.

"I know Joe so well, every day we would figure out some things here and there and we joked that we were just getting close enough and ready to go. Then all of a sudden it was like 'alright man, thanks for the help. Appreciate it. Now see ya!'

"Hopefully Rev will be back and good to go, but [Joe] was great. He's such a good dude. He works hard. We had a lot of fun out there."

There's a late caddie carousel on the eve of The Masters as Justin Thomas has made a last-minute switch on his bag for Augusta National.

Thomas revealed that his regular caddie Matt Minister, known as "Rev", is struggling with a bad back so will miss The Masters this week, but luckily he has a familar face to come and help him out.

As Max Homa's former caddie Joe Greiner is available after their recent split, so he'll now work with Thomas in his bid to challenge for a Green Jacket.

Greiner split with his long-time boss and childhood friend Homa last week - but in the end he's still made it to Augusta after all.

Having an experienced top-level bagman free and available to step in at short notice is a big boost for Thomas - especially one he knows so well.

“Unfortunately, my caddie Rev hurt his back this week and isn’t able to be on the bag with me this week at Augusta,” Thomas posted on an Instagram story.

“Rev is resting up so he gets better soon. I’m very lucky Joe Greiner is a great friend and able to help me out last minute.”

Minister took over caddie duties for Thomas at last year's Masters after Jim "Bones" Mackay parted ways with the two-time Major champion.

Thomas is paired with defending champion Scottie Scheffler and Spanish amateur star Jose Luis Ballester for the first two rounds of The Masters.

The 31-year-old has climbed back up the Official World Golf Ranking of late and is now No.8 in the world, but is still searching for a first victory of any kind since his 2022 PGA Championship title.

Sixteen shots. That was the difference between Justin Thomas' opening round at The Players Championship on Thursday and his second round on Friday. It was quite a turnaround.

The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is not the simplest of tracks, but the 15-time PGA Tour winner looked desperately out of sorts on Thursday as he stumbled to a 78.

No one can ever accuse Thomas of throwing the towel in, however, and he responded to the disappointment of that poor start to bounce back by a tournament-record 16 shots, which saw him climb 105 places up the leaderboard.

His extraordinary round of 62, which included a record 11 birdies, had statisticians scrambling around in a panic.

One of the most incredible stats from his two rounds so far is the 9.09 strokes ball-striking (Off The Tee & Approach) that he lost on Thursday, the worst round of his career and the third worst round of any golfer in 2025.

Thomas is unlikely to care too much about that one now - not since he followed it up with "one of the best rounds" he's played.

"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," he reflected.

The two-time PGA Championship winner has a history of going low, and is one of just 14 different players to have shot a 59 or lower in PGA Tour history.

Thomas fired a 59 in round one of the Sony Open at Waialee Country Club in 2017, and is clearly a player capable of getting on a hit run with the putter.

In fact, no one has carded more PGA Tour rounds of 62 or lower (13) over the last 40 years than Thomas, not even the great Tiger Woods (9).

Friday's spectacular round saw him gain +9.4 shots on the field. It was his best round from 892 played, although he still sits seven shots off the pace set by Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia at the halfway stage.

Thomas started Friday's round with birdies at the first two holes, before making further gains at the fifth, seventh and ninth to make the turn in 31.

After dropping a 22-foot birdie putt on the signature 'island' hole, he found himself needing a par or better to break the course record on Pete Dye's famous layout.

However, he made a rare mistake on the difficult 18th, finding the water with his approach, with a fine up-and-down seeing him escape with a bogey.

Even so, 10-under-par represented a pretty decent day's work, with Thomas stating after his round: "I should have a lot of faith in my game because I can do stuff like today."

If he can get anywhere near those levels over the weekend, he might just find himself in with a chance of victory which, after Thursday's round, would be quite remarkable.

Three big names continued their struggles in 2025 with Viktor Hovland, Justin Thomas and Max Homa all having difficult starts to the Players Championship.

Thomas finished birdie-birdie but still carded a bitterly disappointing opening round of 78, while his six over par was at least better than Hovland's 80.

Homa has endured a torried start to 2025 and that looks likely to continue, as the American was six over for his first nine holes before adding two more bogeys early in his back nine during his round of 79.

Thomas won the Players Championship in 2021 and had a couple of positive results this year to build confidence heading to TPC Sawgrass, but that disappeared on just two holes.

Starting on the 10th tee, the two-time PGA Championship winner negotiated his first seven holes in two under, before coming apart at the 17th and 18th on the Stadium Course.

Thomas found the water on the iconic par-3 17th hole and again on the intimidating closing hole at TPC Sawgrass, which cost him back-to-back double bogeys.

A third double bogey followed at the fifth during a disastrous run that saw him go bogey-double-bogey-bogey to lose five shots in a four-hole run that could have cost him a shot at making the weekend already.

Thomas fought back well though, picking up birdies at the eighth and ninth to at least finish the day with hope that he can turn things around on Friday.

Hovland has been his own worst critic over the last year or so, and having missed back-to-back cuts before the Players that criticism looked valid.

Like Thomas, Hovland had three disastrous holes, with two double bogeys and a triple bogey blighting his card - but unlike the American the Norwegian could not find a late response as he signed for an 80.

Hovland hit a triple-bogey seven on the fifth and followed it with a double-bogey six on the sixth as two wide right drives ended up costing him five shots.

Homa turned in 42 after two bogeys and two double bogeys, before adding two more coming home as he continued the struggles that have seen him miss the cut in three of his last four events.

He did at least manage his first and only birdie of the day on 16 to make sure he broke 80, but shooting 79 will be scant consolation after another poor round in the books.

As a decade-long member of the PGA Tour's Player Advisory Council (PAC), Justin Thomas is very much used to fielding questions on what to do about the sport's pace of play issue, which is particularly prevalent at pro level.

An amateur round might rarely exceed 4.5 hours while 18 holes on the PGA Tour or DP World Tour seem to seldom be completed within the five-hour mark. The obvious and unavoidable difference there is that one group is competing for their livelihood and the other simply bragging rights or a lower handicap.

For years, the subject of a shot clock has been mooted as the potential answer to the problem on tour. But even then, how would it be policed? What should the limit be? Should it change based on different factors?

The brand new TGL has introduced a 40-second shot clock for every player on every stroke, and that has gone down well with fans. But, as Thomas correctly pointed out after leading his Atlanta Drive team to a 4-0 victory over New York on Tuesday night, there are far fewer variables within indoor golf.

The turf is the same, the ball's reaction to the green is often similar, and there is no wind. Plus, golfers don't have to check their yardage book to calculate distance as the information is provided for them on-screen.

Quizzed on the possibility of speeding up play by introducing a shot clock to the PGA Tour - similar to the one used by TGL - Thomas replied: "You know, it's tough. Look, this is my 10th year on tour. I've been on the PAC a lot of years. We've talked about pace of play all 10 years.

"The thing is you have to make such drastic changes for it to be noticeable. Pretty much a lot of the conversations end the same way; it's like what are we trying to accomplish here? Are rounds going to be 12 minutes faster? Are they going to be 20 minutes faster?

"It's hard to realistically make a big enough difference where people are like, 'wow, this is great.' Rounds are only three hours now or three and a half hours instead of five. You know what I mean? It's really hard to make that big of a change."

While the Louisville-born pro understands fan frustration on the subject, he also felt compelled to defend the quality of play on show every week.

Thomas agreed with the notion that people still want good golf, they just want it to be slightly quicker. Yet, he went on to point out that faster play and the fans' wishes for more brutal golf courses really don't go hand-in-hand with so much money on the line.

Thomas continued: "Look, there definitely could be some things here and there that are done, but it's also -- I think there's, like, a Fan Forward survey that the Tour does with fans.

"They like harder golf courses, they like watching us play difficult places, but they want us to play faster, so those two don't go together. You've kind of got to pick and choose your battles.

"But, yeah, I guess we'll see. I'm sure we're all hopeful, but at the end of the day it's like, what are we trying to accomplish? You know what I'm saying?"

The modern era of professional golf is far different to that of 20 years ago and, with the rise of social media and cellphones, players are appearing in the public eye more and more.

It's an aspect that two-time Major winner Justin Thomas acknowledges and, in a lengthy letter to his fellow PGA Tour peers, something that Thomas believes "can make a world of difference" in terms of broadcasting.

Penning the letter to the membership, Thomas wrote: “We have been having conversations with NBC and CBS to improve the broadcast for PGA Tour fans. We’re incredibly lucky to have many passionate people tuning in to watch us every week, but let’s be honest—this game can feel a little distant at times.”

Following his introduction, the American then explains how "more access and insight can make a WORLD of difference", before listing examples such as "pre-round interviews, mid-round interviews, wearing a mic, communication of any equipment/swing changes you're working on."

In the past, some players have been reluctant to do on-course interviews, with even Thomas himself stating back in 2020 that: "It’s not me. I do a lot of self-talking. That’s mine and Jimmy’s (caddie) time, whether we’re talking about whatever, or even the next shot. For me, there’s no benefit. It’s only going to make me look worse."

Since then, we have seen the DP World Tour introduce that element to their broadcast, whilst the likes of Max Homa, Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa have all taken part in walk-and-talk interviews whilst playing rounds on the PGA Tour.

Certainly, it seems that Thomas' tune has also changed on the matter and, in the letter, the 31-year-old explains that: "I know stepping outside of our comfort zones isn't always easy. Believe me, in the past I've been the first to say 'no' before things are even done being asked. I've had no interest when someone asks for an interview mid-round or suggests trying something new.

"But I also know how much the fans love those moments -- hearing our thought processes, conversations with our caddies, our reactions to the shots, and understanding the ups and downs of competing at the highest level. While we may (at least I know I do) think it's not that important or interesting, our fans do."

According to Thomas, a recent survey found that “on-course personality” was “the highest ranked driver of interest for young fans (18-34)," with Thomas believing that "getting the younger age group interested and watching our sport could be a huge difference in our popularity.”

Claiming that one of the main reasons for his change of heart is due to his viewing of "documentaries and specials on streaming services on other sports," Thomas went on to add "the more I’ve come to realize the main reason I love them so much is the access they provide and the insight the players are giving me; a fan of them and their craft.

"I had no interest in rooting for certain players, teams, coaches before watching a handful of shows and games. But the way some of them show their cards and how they go about everything makes me an even bigger fan...

"The more we work with NBC/CBS/ESPN, the more they should be able to work with us. I'm sure many of us feel the telecasts can be better, so let's help them do that."

Although Justin Thomas came up short in his bid for a first PGA Tour title since the 2022 PGA Championship, the American did pass a significant milestone in California.

Firing rounds of 67, 64, 68 and 66 at The American Express, Thomas finished two shots shy of winner, Sepp Straka, but Thomas' $918,000 payday meant that he became just the 13th player to ever surpass $60 million in PGA Tour career earnings.

Now sitting 12th in the all-time standings on the PGA Tour's career earnings list, the 31-year-old's current career earnings are $60,827,898 over 242 PGA Tour starts, with Thomas making 197 cuts in that time.

To date, his most successful year came in 2017, where he picked up five PGA Tour titles, including his first Major at the PGA Championship. That year, Thomas finished as the World No.1 and also as the FedEx Cup champion, pocketing a $10 million payday in the process.

Certainly, after a poor season by his standards in 2023, finishing outside the top 125 of the FedEx Cup for the first time in his career, Thomas has re-found his form, as he claimed six top 10s and $5.2 million in prize money in 2024. What's more, thanks to a strong start to 2025, he has already amassed $1.1 million in two tournaments.

Being a Ryder Cup year, Thomas hopes that his good form in 2025 will continue, with the two-time Major winner stating: "Just keep doing what I'm doing, I don't need to change or do anything different, just keep building, keep working, tighten some things up.

"I feel like my wedge game has not been anything close to my level of what I like it being. So, yeah, just kind of keep honing in on that, and work -- because we got a big stretch here coming up that I'm excited for."

Thomas will next tee it up in the PGA Tour's second Signature Event of the year, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, with the American hoping to make the most of the $20 million event, which gets underway on the 30th January.

PGA Tour Career Earnings List

*Correct as of 20th January 2025

It's become somewhat of a yearly tradition for Justin Thomas to share his yearly targets and whether he's achieved them or not, with the American doing so once again for 2024.

After a 2023 to forget, which included finishing outside the top 125 of the FedEx Cup for the very first time, JT was out for redemption in 2024 and, it's safe to say, he's enjoyed a mix bag of results.

In terms of results at events, the two-time Major winner did make it to the PGA Tour's finale at the Tour Championship, as six top 10s, including a tie for third at The American Express, meant Thomas ended his season 14th in the FedEx Cup standings.

However, although there were strong results, Thomas didn't secure a win or Major title, which were at the top of his 2024 goals list. He did make the Tour Championship but, aside from that, he missed out on the Presidents Cup, Olympics and failed to finish inside the top five of the Official World Golf Rankings.

Away from those, Thomas also set himself targets in terms of statistics, something that the 31-year-old enjoys doing. Certainly, in this area, we see a lot more ticks, as nearly half the goals have been achieved in the 2024 season.

Hitting his Strokes Gained Off the Tee and Approach numbers, the 15-time PGA Tour winner just missed his Strokes Gained: Putting target. However, with his Scrambling stats being above 60%, as well as his par 3 and par 4 averages bettering par, you can claim that the season has been a good one for Thomas.

Writing on social media, the American stated: "Here’s my yearly humble pie from some of my goals of the season… A lot of good, plenty of room for improvement, but tons of excitement for next season. I always enjoy doing a deep dive of stats on different areas of my game compared to a few of my best stretches and finding similarities/differences.

"With those I find areas I want to work on during my off weeks and create new goals for new years. Have always been a believer of why not set goals of things you WANT to achieve, then work your tail off to try and do it. Time to start a new list!"

Next year is set to be a big one for the American who, after a tie for second and a solo third in his last two events, is hoping to carry that momentum over into 2025. Certainly, one aim for JT will be to make it on to the US Ryder Cup side, something that he has done in the last three editions.

Justin Thomas has enjoyed a resurgence in form over the past months, with the two-time Major winner registering a tie for second and a solo third in his last two outings.

It's been a welcome return for Thomas who, during 2023, was visibly struggling with form, finishing outside the top 125 of the FedEx Cup standings for the first time in his career. However, thanks to some changes, he's getting back to his best, with a few reasons being down to equipment.

At the Hero World Challenge, Thomas led the Strokes Gained: Off The Tee and ranked second for Driving Distance at 317.20 yards. It's safe to say the big-stick was working well for JT, with the American revealing that he had put a new shaft into his driver.

"I've had a long driver that I'll travel with for the last year or so," stated Thomas. "I've used it a couple times, but this shaft that I'm using is different. I just, I want to be able to have that because I think there's some courses that it's a huge advantage.

"It's a little over an inch, maybe an inch and a bit. This one's 46" and my gamer is 44 7/8". It's pretty consistent, like probably two or three miles-per-hour more ball speed. I'd say it's probably 10 yards in the air and I can get another 15 out of it, so I think that's what's nice. Again, it's very specific for courses, but I gave it a try."

Producing 10 drives of over 325 yards at the Hero World Challenge, the shaft in question, we believe, is a Mitsubishi Diamana BB Prototype, which measures 46" and joins Thomas' Titleist GT2 driver. We believe it replaces the Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60 TX shaft that he usually has in the bag.

Also explaining that he has been hitting the gym hard during the off-season, it's not just in the club department where Thomas has made changes, with the 31-year-old continuing to use specific footwear.

At the ZOZO Championship, Thomas was seen donning a pair of FootJoy HyperFlex Carbon golf shoes and not his usual pair of FootJoy Premiere Series Packard and Tarlow.

Although it's unclear as to why the 15-time PGA Tour winner has switched to the HyperFlex Carbon shoe, it's worth noting that the likes of Bryson DeChambeau currently wears the same footwear.

In terms of our experience with the shoes, we know that they are amongst the best spiked models on the market, offering a blend of comfort, grip and stability in equal measure - something the best players in the world are always looking for.

Justin Thomas will take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the 2024 Hero World Challenge as he looks to claim a first victory since the 2022 PGA Championship.

Thomas will begin Sunday with a slender advantage over round-four playing partner, Scottie Scheffler - who has triumphed eight times in total this calendar year.

The Louisiana-born player has recorded a plethora of strong finishes since the back end of 2023, which he capped off with a third at Albany Golf Club. Looking ahead, Thomas is hopeful he can finally get one over the line.

He said: "Yeah, it would be great. I've been progressing nicely, been working on all the right things. Feel like I've been seeing signs of improvement, which is what you want and that's all I can do.

"I can't control everybody else or what's going on, I've just got to keep playing as good as I possibly can and hope that it's enough come Sunday."

The leading American pair go off at 12:24pm ET (5:24pm GMT) ahead of surprise duo, Tom Kim and Keegan Bradley at 12:13pm ET (5:13pm GMT).

Before a ball was struck at the exclusive Tiger Woods-hosted event in The Bahamas, neither were fancied to take home the title, but they have upset the odds to sit four and two shots off Thomas, respectively.

On Saturday, Kim almost put a sub-60 on the board before happily making do with a third-round 62. But, the Korean - who has not enjoyed the best year - insists he will not go out chasing as he hunts a first victory of 2024.

Kim said: "I don't really think of it as a final day trying to win. Just go out there and you try to put the best score you can, whether it's a two-under-par or a nine-under-par.

"You just go out there and play and winning just happens, you can't force anything. You've just got to play your own game, things got to go your way. These guys, they're the best in the world so you have to play good. I know a good solid round of golf is going to reward me."

In a tie for fifth on -12, Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia are likely the final duo who can realistically challenge for the win, and they begin round four at 12:02pm ET (5:02pm GMT).

Below are all of the round-four tee times at the 2024 Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club, The Bahamas.

► Hero World Challenge FREE live stream: How to watch today's finale

HERO WORLD CHALLENGE FINAL ROUND TEE TIMES

ET (GMT)

• 10:45am (3:45pm) Russell Henley, Jason Day
• 10:56am (3:56pm) Matthieu Pavon, Sam Burns
• 11:07am (4:07pm) Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman
• 11:18am (4:18pm) Cameron Young, Aaron Rai
• 11:29am (4:29pm) Sungjae Im, Nick Dunlap
• 11:40am (4:40pm) Ludvig Aberg, Sepp Straka
• 11:51am (4:51pm) Robert MacIntyre, Patrick Cantlay
• 12:02pm (5:02pm) Sahith Theegala, Akshay Bhatia
• 12:13pm (5:13pm) Tom Kim, Keegan Bradley
• 12:24pm (5:24pm) Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler

When Jim Furyk announced his six captain's picks for the US Presidents Cup team at the start of the month, one notable omission was two-time Major winner Justin Thomas.

The former World No.1 didn’t do enough to qualify automatically despite an improved season after an alarming loss of form in 2023.

However, he still reached the final FedEx Cup Playoff, August’s Tour Championship at East Lake, where he finished seventh, suggesting he would be hard to overlook when it came to Furyk’s selections.

Also working in Thomas’s favor was the fact that he had played in the previous three editions and accumulated an impressive overall record of 10-3-2 overall.

Those adantages still weren't enough to persuade Furyk to select him, who explained at the time: “There are a bunch of guys that I would want on this team. It was a difficult decision with JT. Definitely a difficult call to make.

Even though Thomas is sitting out this year’s edition at Royal Montreal, he isn’t letting events pass him by, and has expressed on X how much he is enjoying the action, even though he admits it is difficult watching from home.

He wrote: “Wasn’t sure if I’d want to watch or not, but mannnnn have I enjoyed watching this @PresidentsCup. Some serious golf and emotion going on out there. Kills me to be watching from home but I’m cheering hard for team USA. LFG BOYS.”

Much of the emotion Thomas referenced was laid bare on Saturday, in particular after Si Woo Kim, playing alongside fellow South Korean Tom Kim, produced an epic chip-in for the Internationals during the afternoon foursomes session.

He followed that up by mimicking basketball star Steph Curry’s “night night” celebration at the Olympics - a moment that was mocked by US player Wyndham Clark moments after Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay finally ended the challenge of the Internationals duo.

Thomas was asked about the Si Woo Kim celebration, and he explained that, in the moment, it can be hard to keep your emotions in check. 

He wrote: “It’s no surprise I love guys showing emotion and getting into it in these team events. As a viewer SW and Tom were the energy yesterday for their team. I also think some of those celebrations are so out of body you don’t even know what you’re doing haha.

“While I’m sure a few of them were taken a little further than they intended, it’s part of what makes these events so special. Damned if you do damned if you don’t type situation. Also easy for me to say sitting on my couch and not actually happening to me in person.”

By the end of Saturday’s play, the US had taken control of proceedings to lead 11-7 heading into the Sunday singles, where the team was closing in on its 13th win in 15 editions since the Presidents Cup began in 1994.

Justin Thomas was a surprise omission from Jim Furyk's Presidents Cup captain's picks, and the two-time Major winner took to social media to respectfully react to not getting a pick while also announcing that he is to become a father for the first time this winter.

Thomas, who is still without a victory since the PGA Championship in May 2022, admitted he was "bummed" to miss out on his first Team USA in eight years. He has played in every Ryder Cup since 2018 and had featured on the Presidents Cup side in 2017, 2019 and 2022.

"I’m obviously very bummed to not be joining the boys in Canada for @presidentscup, but completely understanding," Thomas wrote.

"Jim has put together a great team. I will be the first one pulling for them and watching, while using it as motivation to not miss a team event again as they are some of my favorite weeks I’ve had."

The 31-year-old then announced that he and wife Jillian Wisniewski are expecting their first child in November.

"It will be nice to have some time to work on things, foundation event, some R&R, and even become a dad at the end of November! While I’m excited for the “off season”, I’m already looking forward to practicing and getting ready for Maui," he said.

"Thanks to everybody for countless support and kind words as I always appreciate it. That’s enough of me getting in my feels for today."

In his lengthy post, Thomas also said he was happy about seeing some signs of improvement this year, where he made it to the Tour Championship after missing the Playoffs last year, while also saying he was "far from satisfied."

The Open Championship is widely regarded as one of the toughest tests in the sport, with natural landscapes and brutal weather causing players to extract every ounce of their talent and mental fortitude in order to successfully complete 18 holes.

And even then, sometimes that isn't enough, as Justin Thomas found out to his frustration at Royal Troon on Friday.

The two-time PGA Championship winner had carded a superb round of three-under in wet and windy conditions on Thursday - featuring seven birdies - before quickly dropping down the leaderboard in the early stages of a much drier but far breezier round two thanks to a five-hole streak of bogey or worse from the second to the sixth.

But it was at the fifth where the most shocking event occurred, with Thomas - renowned as one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour - coming up a staggering 83 yards short of the pin with his tee shot on a par 3.

While it was far from the ideal strike by Thomas - the 127mph ball speed off the tee was made all but redundant by the 121 foot apex - arguably the most telling factor behind his 131-yard strike with a fairway wood was the howling in-to wind which was gusting at around 30mph on the front nine. 

Royal Troon's fifth hole was measuring at 215 yards on Friday but ranked as the second toughest from early on - mainly due to the buffeting breeze golfers were facing. Many players were struggling to hold the green if their golf ball did make it on, and even then, three-putts were not uncommon.

Unfortunately for Thomas, the misery did not end after his first strike, either. The American's tee shot had landed in devilishly thick rough and caused him to only manage a 40-yard pitch (still short of the putting surface) with his second effort.

Thomas' third landed at the back of the green and 15 feet from the pin, but his fourth came up inches short before he tapped in for a double-bogey five.

The aforementioned run of bogey-or-worse left Thomas at three-over for the Championship after eight holes of round two and facing a nervy battle in trying to make the cut at The Open when he had begun the day in the mix for a third Major.

That fight became even harder after a disastrous ninth hole resulted in a triple-bogey seven. Thomas drove into the right rough with his tee shot before failing to shift his golf ball more than a yard with his second.

After taking a drop, Thomas' fourth stroke travelled into the left green-side rough. A chip onto the green and two putts completed his brutal front nine at Troon, leaving him on 45 after a total of 68 on Thursday.

Should he make it through to the weekend at Royal Troon, the weather forecast on Saturday and Sunday appears to be a real mix of heavy rain and more strong winds, meaning Thomas or another of his peers may face a similar situation as they tussle for position on the leaderboard.

Justin Thomas says he has left his disappointing memories from last year behind as he got off to a strong start at the Open Championship at Royal Troon. 

The two-time Major winner carded a three-under 68 in the first round to claim the early clubhouse lead. 

Thomas shot seven birdies, two bogeys and a double on a wet and tricky day at the South Ayrshire links.

It was a significantly better start than his first round at last year’s Championship, when he shot one of the worst rounds of the day – and his career – with a 11-over 82 to kick off the 2023 Open at Royal Liverpool.

Asked about his progression from last year, Thomas replied: "Well, I would guess about 15 strokes better, 13 strokes? What did I shoot? Yeah, I couldn't even tell you what I was thinking or how it was then.

“I'm just worried about how I am now, and I'm very pleased with my game and know things are continuing to work in the right direction. I've just got to keep trying to play well.”

He said he is doing “everything better” compared to this time last year, which ended up being – as he called it – his “least successful season on the PGA Tour”.

With those memories well and truly left in the past, Thomas said he was happy with how he started the final Major of the year.

“I played really solid, got it around. I felt like I had great control of the ball. I hit a lot of fairways, which is a key I would say to any Major, but definitely in an Open, being able to control the ball coming into the greens. A little bit of a hiccup in the beginning of the back nine but stayed patient and kept plugging.”

The 31-year-old has had a mixed bag in his 2024 season so far, claiming five top-10 finishes, including the PGA Championship, while also missing the cut at several big events like the Masters and the US Open.

He is still chasing his first victory since the 2022 PGA Championship, and hasn't quite been able to put together four consistent rounds at a tournament since.

Thomas wasn’t able to back up a similarly strong start at last week’s Scottish Open, where he carded a 62 in the first round to claim his first lead on the PGA Tour since 2022, only to shoot over par in the following three rounds to finish in a tie for 62nd.

He said he was still hitting good shots last week but got “literally nothing out of my rounds”.

But he is confident that he is heading in the right direction and believes the results will soon follow.

“I feel like everything has been turning the right way, and I've been working on the right things. Just like I said, I haven't really had much to show for it. That's just how this game works sometimes. But I know that I'm close the way it is, and I'm just going to keep playing and not play for results, just play for my game, and it'll take care of itself.”

Justin Thomas kicked off his Open Championship in style on Thursday, with a three-under-par 68 to lead the morning wave. The two-time Major winner dazzled in tough conditions at Royal Troon, and firmly cemented his claim for a first Claret Jug.

Despite a run of very mixed form entering the week, Thomas appeared to be firing on all cylinders, and I believe he is the danger man in the field as he searches for a first win since the 2022 PGA Championship.

A solid opening round in Scotland last week suggested he could be back to his best, but despite faltering over the final three rounds, I am ready to believe he may be about to do something spectacular.

After diving deep into his first round performance data, I have found three reasons why he could be our next Champion Golfer of The Year...

1. Putting

The putter has been his achilles heel over the past 12 months, entering the week ranked 89th in the field for Strokes Gained (SG): Putting. Thomas has failed to gain more than one stroke putting since the American Express in late January, and has lost strokes to the field with the flat stick in eight of 14 appearances since that event.

Flashes of optimism have emerged recently in this area, but nobody could have expected the demonstration of putting prowess that Justin Thomas displayed at Royal Troon in the first round of the Open Championship.

By the time he entered the clubhouse, he ranked 2nd for total distance of putts made (103ft), ranked 3rd for SG: Putting and accumulated an impressive seven birdies. That's a stark contrast to what we've seen of late, and if he can keep that going he will have plugged a very big hole in his game.

2. Driving Accuracy

Justin Thomas has always been a great ball striker, and he is no slouch off the tee. Something often has to give in that department, however, and for Thomas he can be slightly wayward with his accuracy.

Coming into the week at Royal Troon, Thomas ranked 123rd in the field for driving accuracy, and when you consider the danger that lurks in the form of treacherous rough and perilous bunkers, that doesn't make for an appealing combination.

Since the start of 2024, Thomas has only bettered the field average for driving accuracy in two events, which is perhaps one of the main reasons he has struggled to reach the heights we expect from a player of his calibre.

It appears that something has changed this week, as his first round performance was completely different to that drab picture. After the early morning wave, Justin Thomas ranked in the top-30 for driving accuracy, and he didn't necessarily sacrifice his length to achieve that, ranking 22nd for driving distance.

3. Piecing It All Together

Even throughout his run of indifferent form that led to the final Major of the season, Justin Thomas has always had a strong approach and wedge game. Prior to Open week, Thomas ranked 3rd for SG: Around The Green and 28th for SG: Approach, and he continued to demonstrate his strength in these areas on day one at Royal Troon.

After his first round, Thomas ranked 9th for SG: Approach and 13th for SG: Around The Green, and he managed to successfully hit 61 percent of greens-in-regulation.

Piecing it all together has been a problem for Justin Thomas over the past couple of years, and while it's still early in the tournament, this might be one of the most complete performances we have seen from him in a long while.

He entered the week at around 80/1 in the betting, and not particularly popular with punters, but his odds have already plummeted to become one of the market favourites. When he gets hot he can be very dangerous, and I am convinced Thomas has what it takes to win the Claret Jug this weekend.

When it comes to the putter, players are always experimenting and tinkering to find the best numbers for their game. It's an area that is crucial to excel at if you are wanting to save shots when out on the golf course.

If you were to take a look at the best putters on the market, it's likely that Scotty Cameron would be near the top of that list, with the brand used by a number of Major champions including a certain Tiger Woods.

There are a vast number of Scotty Cameron's on the market but, in the case of Justin Thomas, he is using a one of a kind model to great use at The Open Championship, with the American starting strongly on day of the final men's Major in Royal Troon.

First put in the bag at last week's Genesis Scottish Open, the two-time PGA Championship winner led after day one at The Renaissance Club and, despite a poor finish to that event, has opted to keep the Scotty Cameron model in the bag for this week's Open Championship.

The model in question is the new Phantom 9.2 Tour Prototype, which actually found its way into Thomas' bag after some inspiration from good buddy, Jordan Spieth. Essentially, the putter was first designed for Spieth to use but, after Thomas stayed over at Spieth's and picked up the model, he loved it and introduced it into his bag.

"Yeah, it came about, as funny as it is, I saw Jordan and Paul Vizanko at Scotty Cameron had made one for Jordan, just to have for him to mess with and something for him to see how he liked it," explained Thomas after his Scottish Open first round.

"I happened to be staying with Jordan a couple times over that stretch when he got it and I picked it up and I thought it looked amazing. I thought it felt great. Talking to Paul about it there were a lot of characteristics in the way the putter was built that helped a pretty good amount of my bad tendencies, I would say in my stroke or they just are able to help that and so I asked him to make me up one and send me one. Yeah, it feels great you know, performed well its first day and hopefully, it performs well the rest of its days."

It's no secret that JT has sometimes struggled with his putting, with the 31-year-old often seen switching between the Phantom X 5 Tour and Proto heads. Such was the state of his putting, which put the American outside the top-150 of the PGA Tour's Strokes Gained Putting stats, Thomas even experimented with a new model that belonged to top-ranked amateur, Gordon Sargent.

In terms of differences to other putters Thomas has used, the Phantom 9.2 Tour Prototype features a similar shaped head to the Phantom 9.5 with slightly more rounded edges. The American had even introduced a new driver last week, opting for the Titleist GT2 driver with a Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60 TX shaft.

Justin Thomas showed glimpses of his old self as he shot a scintillating 62 to set the pace at the Scottish Open after the first round. 

The 31-year-old carded a bogey-free, eight-under 62 to claim a one-stroke lead over Sungjae Im heading into day two at The Renaissance Club.

Amazingly, it is the first time Thomas – a two-time Major winner and former world No.1 – has led a PGA Tour event since his victory at the 2022 PGA Championship 781 days ago. 

He said he was delighted with the “great” start to his tournament and felt in control of his game throughout the day.

“Yeah it was nice,” he said after his round. “It’s always good to get off to a good start and even better to get off to a great one. I felt like I was in great control of everything. When I missed it, I missed it in the right spots. I hit a lot of quality shots and capitalized on those four, five, six footers to kind of make something of them. I stole a couple with some long- or mid-range putts.”

One of those putts came at the first as Thomas sunk a 13-footer to get off to the perfect start, before going on a run of four consecutive birdies on the fifth to eighth holes to shoot 30 for his front nine.

He then added three more birdies after the turn before cooling off a little with five-straight pars to finish his round, including sinking a clutch 10-foot putt on 17 to stay bogey-free.

“Like any golfer I would’ve loved to have finished those last five holes a little bit better but I played really solid today,” he said. “And that par putt on 17 was huge. I love going bogey-free so it was nice. I would have had a different taste in my mouth I think walking off 18.”

It was the 54th time in the last decade that Thomas made eight or more birdies in a round – a record on the PGA Tour and a reminder that the 15-time winner who was once the best player in the world might not be done just yet.

Asked about his distinct ability to make birdies, Thomas said: “I’m confident when I get into that mode. Obviously this is as easy as you’re going to get at a links golf course, weather wise and conditions. If you drive it well like I did for the most part today, when you have a lot of short clubs, I see nothing but the pin.

“You have a lot of opportunities to get the ball close with some slopes, but if I have a good number, for the most part I’m trying to figure out how I can hit it as close as possible. And I’m not scared to do so. I just try to keep the pedal down. But it’s also something that I have to learn [to manage] I feel like.”

A new putter in the bag this week, the Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.2 Prototype, also didn't seem to hurt, with Thomas one-putting 10 of his first 13 holes.

Close behind was Im, who sunk nine birdies and two bogeys to card a seven-under 63 to sit in solo second. 

Maximilian Kieffer, Haotong Li, Thomas Detry, Ludvig Aberg and Justin Lower are in a tie for third at six-under.

Fifteen players are lurking a shot back at five-under, including Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Collin Morikawa.

Many predicted that the PGA Championship was going to throw up some surprises, given the quality of the field on show at Valhalla and, during the very first round, that's exactly what happened...

Currently, there have been four 62s in men's Majors and, on Thursday, Xander Schauffele made history as he became the first player to shoot two of them. Following the feat, Justin Thomas, who has two PGA Championships to his name, was certainly praising of his fellow countryman, despite finishing seven shots back of Schauffele!

Carding a two-under 69 that featured five birdies and three bogeys, Thomas stated following his round: "I felt like I played better than I scored. It was fun. It was a lot of fun. Felt a lot of great things out there, a lot of positive encouragement. I mean, it doesn't help when you're not making many putts in the sense of you feel like you're not playing that well, but when you're playing with one of the easiest 9-unders you've ever seen, it makes you feel like you're shooting a million. 

"I wasn't really paying attention much to leaderboards and whatnot, but when I looked up and saw where I was at, I felt a little bit better about how I was making my way around the course compared to the field. Yeah, I easily could have shot four or five shots better today, but I'm proud of how I played the back nine to hang in there."

It's no secret that Thomas has struggled with his golf game over the past 18 months. In 2023, he missed the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in his career, with the American firing rounds of 78 in the Masters, 81 in the US Open and 82 at The Open Championship.

However, in 2024, Thomas has re-found his form, securing three top-six finishes, including a tie for third at The American Express. Although he missed the cut at the Masters, following a horrendous finish, Thomas remains upbeat as he plays in his home city of Louisville, Kentucky.

"It's been a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be. It's weird, it's not that I didn't think it would be enjoyable, but I thought I would be way more nervous," admitted Thomas, who is looking for a third PGA Championship victory.

"I was nervous on the first tee today, but it's just fun. To be honest, I feel like I've never had this many people root for me before. So it's a pretty good feeling, to be perfectly honest. So it's just really enjoyable. I wish we had more tournaments in Louisville because I like this."

Rickie Fowler's recent love affair with par-3s continues. 

Having won the Par 3 Contest at this year's Masters earlier in the month, the American enjoyed another memorable moment as he made a hole-in-one on a buddies trip with long-time friend Justin Thomas.

To make it even better, the feat came while the pair were playing a round at the ultra-exclusive Pine Valley, ranked amongst the best courses in the United States.

First reported by Golf Digest, the hole-in-one came on the third hole, with Fowler hitting a 7-iron into the 182-yard hole. As well as Thomas, NFL legend and former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was also watching on as he played with the duo.

Pine Valley's notoriously strict phone policy - akin to that of Augusta National - meant that video of the hole-in-one was unlikely to emerge. 

However, footage has since been posted online from a member of the group, showcasing Thomas jumping on Fowler's back in celebration as the ball drops into the cup. Check it out:

Despite professional golf's hectic schedule, Fowler and Thomas - as well as fellow countryman Jordan Spieth - have often made time for a quick buddies trip over the years.

In 2022, the trio were captured in Ireland playing rounds at Tralee Golf Club and Lahinch Golf Club prior to competing in the J.P. McManus Pro-Am. The following year they were seen teeing it up for some evening links at the iconic North Berwick before the Scottish Open at the nearby Renaissance Club.

Judging by the celebrations caught on camera, Fowler's ace may go down as one of their most cherished memories yet.

Mito Pereira admitted that Justin Thomas' quip about the Chilean's 2022 PGA Championship collapse left him with a sour taste in his mouth and has motivated him to get revenge in the future.

Pereira's bid to win his maiden Major title was derailed in dramatic fashion when he made a costly double-bogey at the 72nd hole to miss out on the playoff by one shot. 

Thomas went on to claim his second Major with a playoff victory over Will Zalatoris and, a year on, jokingly raised a toast in Pereira's honour when he hosted former champions at Oak Hill.

“I personally want to have a cheers to Mito Pereira because this would not happen without him," Thomas said in a scene that was captured as part of season two of Netflix's Full Swing.

The comments caused somewhat of a stir online, with Pereira now issuing a response ahead of LIV Golf's latest event in Miami. 

“It was not very fun for me or I think for anybody,” he told Fore Play. “I’ve seen Instagram and he’s not getting a lot of love about that. I’m not really close to him so it’s not like I’m going to go talk to him. 

"It hurt a little bit, just not really to go at him and say something. It gives you a little bit of fire again. I really would like to be in that position again to beat him.”

Pereira is playing in his second season on the Saudi-backed circuit but is yet to register a top-30 finish in any of the first four tournaments of the year. 

Thomas, meanwhile, started the year positively with consecutive top-ten finishes but recently missed the cut at the Players Championship before labouring to a T64 finish at the Valspar Championship.

That recent form, off the back of a disappointing year in 2023, has sparked a change for the American, with the 30-year-old deciding to part ways with caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay on the eve of The Masters. The pair had been together since 2021. 

Justin Thomas will have Matt Minister, former caddie of Patrick Cantlay, on his bag for next week’s Masters after splitting with Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay ahead of the first men’s Major of the year.

The American admitted it was “incredibly difficult” to announce the news and added that he would be “forever grateful” for Mackay’s contribution since the pair joined forces in 2021.

Mackay, famously the former long-term caddie of Phil Mickelson, was on Thomas’ bag when he clinched the second of his two PGA Championships at Southern Hills in 2022.

That was the last trophy Thomas lifted amid a slump in form and he will arrive at the iconic Augusta National at The Masters next week with a new looper.

According to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, Thomas has asked Minister to fill in while he searches for a permanent replacement for Bones.

“On the bag next week for Justin Thomas at The Masters will be veteran Matt Minister, who was the caddie for Patrick Cantlay when he won the 2021 Tour Championship,” Lewis wrote on X.

Minister has been on the tour for best part of two decades and has worked with some big names throughout his career.

He previously caddied for two-time Major winner Nick Price and has also enjoyed stints with Chris Kirk, Sangmoon Bae and Cantlay.

Minister was on Cantlay’s bag when he took down Bryson DeChambeau in a six-hole playoff to win a thrilling 2021 BMW Championship before he went on to pip Jon Rahm by a shot to scoop the FedEx Cup top prize.

After the duo went their separate ways following last April's Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Cantlay hired Tiger Woods' ex-caddie Joe LaCava.

Justin Thomas has announced that he and caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay have gone their separate ways.

The pair joined forces in 2021 and that partnership led to considerable success for Thomas, including victory at the 2022 PGA Championship. 

That spell has now come to an end, as Thomas revealed on X. He wrote: “While incredibly difficult for me to say, Bones and I have parted ways. I’m going to be forever thankful for him joining me on the bag in 2021. The things we’ve been able to accomplish together - The PGA Championship in 2022, The Presidents Cup, The Ryder Cups were all unforgettable experiences.

“His wisdom on and off the course has been a blessing during a tough stretch of my career and he was there every step of the way.

“I know there are great things coming for both of us down the road. I wish him the best of luck and will always count him and his family amongst my friends.”

While the pair enjoyed a largely successful working relationship, last year also coincided with a worrying slump in form for Thomas, who failed to make the FedEx Cup playoffs. Last September, Thomas made changes to his coaching team in order to address the slump ahead of the Ryder Cup but retained the services of Mackay.

That appeared to have paid off, as Thomas has shown signs of a resurgence in form in 2024 so far, including a T3 at The American Express and a T6 at one of the PGA Tour’s signature events, the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

The move comes at a crucial stage of the season for Thomas, with The Masters now just a week away and the three other Majors all following soon after. Last year, Thomas failed to make the cut at Augusta National, and in the immediate term, he will be eager to ensure there is not a repeat of that failure this year.

Per the Golf Channel's Todd Lewis, Thomas has moved quickly to appoint a caddie for The Masters, with Patrick Cantlay's former bagman Matt Minister taking on the role. 

The news of Thomas' split with Mackay comes just a week after three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson announced his brother Tim had retired as his caddie, with Jon Yarbrough replacing him.

Justin Thomas let off some steam after a so-so week at the Valspar Championship by attending New York Knicks v Detroit Pistons at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, later hopping over the road to appear on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.' As you do.

While he was unable to claim a personal victory at the Copperhead Course (finishing T64), Thomas was courtside - along with wife Jillian Wisniewski - to watch the Knicks carry on their strong campaign via a 124-99 win.

Hours later, the Kentucky-born golfer was sharing an awesome story involving another famous basketball entity - arguably the most famous of them all, Michael Jordan.

Having followed retired Supreme Court Justice, Stephen Breyer as a guest on Colbert's comfy-looking sofa, Thomas felt compelled to admit he won a serious amount of money while playing golf alongside MJ as a teenager.

The two-time Major winner was teed up to discuss the story by The Late Show host - who produced a photo of a baby-faced Thomas strolling along the fairway of the course where Thomas’s father, Mike, was the head professional, near Louisville. The now 30-year-old revealed he was "probably 15 years old" in the picture before going on to give context.

Thomas said that Jordan would always attend the Kentucky Derby, close to where the pro golfer grew up, and wanted to play golf whenever he was in town. As a result of Mike Thomas and Jordan both knowing Junior Bridgeman - a former NBA player as well - the six-time NBA champion would play golf at their local club.

After admitting he was just lucky enough to be around at the same time, Thomas answered Colbert's question on money being put down.

He said: "I didn't play the first couple of years. My dad's course was very old school - no tee times, no rules really, just go play as a sixsome or whatever, no caddies. So I would be the caddie for the group.

"First couple of years, I'd help them out. And, finally, in that third year - the last year they came out - he would call me 'Little Man', so he said 'Little Man, go get your clubs because you're going to play the last seven holes with us.'

“He knew I played golf, but he didn’t know that I was... decent, and nobody else definitely had any idea. He goes 'I'll take Little Man and whoever wants us.' Everybody else is just looking at this kid who is 111lb."

Colbert asked if Jordan put any pressure on him, to which Thomas replied: “No, I just felt pressure playing with Michael Jordan. He was like, ‘Alright, I’ve got him.’ ”

Asked about the result, Thomas chuckled as he answered: “I made four birdies in seven holes and helped pay for my first car!"

But what about the stakes? Did Thomas know at the time. The 15-time PGA Tour winner insisted he did not but learned after the round the scale of his achievement.

“I didn’t know the amount," Thomas said. "[Jordan] said to everybody 'don’t tell him [Thomas] what we’re playing for because he might… (freak out) … I won 3-4 grand.

"The assistant at the time was helping get stuff together and everyone came in from 36 holes and my dad’s like giving me a hard time. ‘You need to tip him.’ I’m like, ‘Tip who?’ He said, ‘Matt, the assistant.’”

The smallest denomination in teenage Thomas' pockets at the time was $100 bills, so that's what Matt found himself collecting.

Thomas continued: “My dad was like, ‘I can believe you just tipped him $100.’ That’s all I had,” Thomas said.

The third round of the Valspar Championship was set up to be a thriller, with a number of experienced and inexperienced names in contention at the Copperhead Course.

Amongst the congested leaderboard was Justin Thomas, who was arguably one of the favourites after re-finding his form in 2024, following a disappointing 2023 season that saw him miss the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in his career.

However, despite birdieing the opening hole in his third round, Thomas was about to have a day to forget, as the American carded an eight-over-par 79, which included his worst ever putting display and a total of 38 putts.

So, how did Thomas lose over seven strokes on the green and drop from a tie for the lead into 66th? Well, after three-putting from 25-feet on the second, he would miss from six-feet at the par 4 third.

Further missed putts from short distances followed, with the worst of those coming at the seventh hole where, after missing a par putt from 10-feet, Thomas looked to clean up from two-feet for his bogey. His next effort, though, missed on the right side and did a near 360° rotation, as the double bogey meant he dropped from three to five shots back.

To compound the misery further, Thomas bogeyed the eighth and ninth, the eighth featured a missed putt from four-foot as well, with the 30-year-old carding a five-over 41 to fall to even-par for the tournament. Tackling the back nine, he bogeyed the 10th, 12th and 14th, as a further 38 strokes gave him an eight-over 79.

The performance was the worst putting round of his career, with Thomas not holing a single putt outside three-feet. In fact, his putt of 2'9" at the very first hole was the longest he made all day!

Having holed 27 putts on both Thursday and Friday, Thomas lost 7.034 strokes on the greens on Saturday, with his performance the worst in the field. 

Two-time Major winner Justin Thomas had a tournament to forget at The Players Championship, where rounds of 71 and 74 meant he became one of several big names to miss the cut.

While the 2021 champion is left to reflect on what might have been, LIV Golf team Smash GC aren’t prepared to let him forget comments he made before the tournament, which alluded to remarks made by one of its line-up, Talor Gooch, in February.

Gooch had suggested that if Rory McIlroy wins The Masters this year, it could have an asterisk because some LIV golfers who would likely have qualified if they were awarded world ranking points.

Before the TPC Sawgrass event, Thomas was asked how he felt about The Players Championship no longer being able to be billed as the best field in golf because of the absence of LIV golfers.

He defended the strength of the field, replying: “It's still been the best field in golf for many previous years. You could always make an argument that there's other tournaments that are or are not.”

He then went on to reference Gooch’s controversial comment, saying: “I'm not going to have an asterisk next to my name for winning this because the field wasn't too good.”

In the wake of Thomas’ early exit from the event, the official Smash GC X account responded to a message repeating the quote in simple yet brutal fashion – a scissors icon.

A high-profile dig at Thomas' failure to make the cut is probably the last thing he needs after a performance that began well enough, with a one-under on Thursday, before his 74 on Friday, which included four bogeys, sent him packing.

As for Smash GC’s cheeky dig at Thomas, it no doubt feels emboldened given the increasing strength of the LIV Golf roster, highlighted by the fact that five former winners of The Players Championship are now among its line-up, including Cameron Smith, who claimed victory just two years ago.

Meanwhile, Thomas can at least take comfort in the knowledge that his failure to make the weekend can be seen as a blip in an otherwise encouraging start to 2024. The 2022 PGA Champion suffered a slump in form last year, but before this week, he had made the top 20 in five of his six starts of 2024.

Despite the absence of top players from LIV Golf at TPC Sawgrass this week, Justin Thomas insists there'll be no asterisk next to the name of The Players Championship winner.

The flagship event on the PGA Tour still holds the tagline of "the strongest field in golf" but that's obviously being called into question with the lack of LIV Golf League competitors.

And with the continuing kerfuffle over Official World Golf Ranking points, the strength of The Players has never been under more scrutiny.

But 2021 Players champion Thomas insists he won't be concerned about who is playing if he manages to lift the trophy again come Sunday.

"I mean, it's still been the best field in golf for many previous years," Thomas said at TPC Sawgrass. "You could always make an argument that there's other tournaments that are or are not.

"The PGA Championship has been the deepest field in terms of the most top 100 players, and I'm not just saying that for selfish reasons, it's just the truth.

"I know what you mean in terms of world ranking and guys that are or aren't on the Tour anymore, but that's just kind of the reality - and what they have put themselves in.

"And, yeah, I mean, I'm not going to have an asterisk next to my name for winning this because the field wasn't too good, right."

Thomas echoed Rory McIlroy's talk of fatigue around the entire LIV Golf, PIF, future of golf debate that's been around the last few years, but does seem optimistic at least moving forward.

Commissioner Jay Monahan has managed to keep his place at the top of the PGA Tour tree, and while not giving a ringing endorsement, Thomas likes the moves being made joining forces with SSG.

And the promises of changes coming from the new PGA Tour Enterprises give Thomas hope - and seem to be giving Monahan some breathing space.

"I know that it's gone way - I shouldn't say way deeper, but it's just way bigger than Jay," Thomas said of the PGA Tour's future. 

"I think Jay's just a part of the huge group of people that has been pushing for all the changes and progress that the Tour's been making.

"So I've been pleased with all the latest stuff that's been happening and been going on, and Jay's been a part of that group, so I think this is a lot bigger than one person sitting there and making all the decisions. 

"Understanding he has his role, but there's a really, really big group of people and players that are involved now that I think are making a wholesome decision for all of us."

The second season of Netflix golf-documentary series, Full Swing gave fans a behind-the-scenes view of some of the sport's most memorable moments during the 2023 campaign.

From the Ryder Cup to one of the more controversial US Opens at Los Angeles Country Club, the streaming platform's cameras showed what some may have preferred to stay hidden as well as the warts-and-all reaction of players to a variety of different scenarios.

But one moment from last year garnered a degree more reaction than most, and as a result it required a bumper slot to tell the full story. 

In the first couple of 'Full Swing' episodes, titled: The Game Has Changed: Part One/Two, a handful of PGA Tour pros react to the news that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has performed a potentially historic u-turn and announced the US-based circuit has entered into a framework agreement with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund - backers of rival tour, the LIV Golf League.

The decision arrived not too long after Monahan had claimed "we will never work with LIV" while appearing to remain steadfast in his belief that the PGA Tour could continue to grow without additional support.

Rory McIlroy - who features heavily in Season 2 of Full Swing - said: "What happened? How did you get from not knowing this guy (Yasir Al-Rumayyan) and not meeting this guy to signing what is probably the biggest deal in the history of professional golf? What happened?

“You’re telling us that these guys (LIV) are almost like the enemy to you’re partnering with them. It’s a hard one to swallow."

What made the announcement even more shocking and upsetting for McIlroy is that it came at a time where he was chairman of the Player Advisory Council on the PGA Tour board and had regularly defending his circuit by taking shots at LIV.

Meanwhile, his quest for Major number five continued to elude him.

McIlroy continued: "I’m like, 'why did I just waste 12 months of my life to fight for something that was always going to come back together again?'

“There is a palpable vibe of confusion and anger because we have very little information now apart from basically entered into an agreement, don’t know what that agreement is going to involve."

Elsewhere, two of Team USA's key players shared their surprise at the decision.

Collin Morikawa asked: “What the f*** just happened? Just chaos.” And Justin Thomas said: “What the f***?

"There’s clearly more to this other than 'it’s just a merger.' Nobody knows anything and there’s just so many unanswered questions. And I’m just trying to get answers like everybody else.”

Fan favorite from Season 1 of Full Swing, Joel Dahmen, shared his disbelieving response. He said: “What is happening? This is really weird, literally flipped 180.

"Monahan flipped 180, they did it in secrecy, they didn’t tell anyone, there was no votes, there was nothing.”

Offering some composed reaction to the June 6 agreement in the days after, McIlroy pointed out that a lot of the players' grievance was born out of not knowing it could be happening and also finding out it was happening at the same time as everyone else.

McIlroy said: "It was all sprung on us so quickly, everyone was blindsided by it and I think that created a lot of anger and a lot of confusion amongst the tour membership.

"Jay realised pretty quickly that the rollout of it could have been handled better.”

The annual Seminole Pro-Member regularly takes place hours after the Cognizant Classic has ended. However, this year, the two events existed concurrently after poor weather forced the PGA Tour competition into an extra day.

As a result, some of the field at PGA National needed to either alter or completely cancel their tee times as the $9 million tournament took precedence on Monday.

One PGA Tour player who did not have to make any last-minute plans was Erik van Rooyen, with the South African having finished his fourth round on Sunday before play was suspended.

He enjoyed one of the best Mondays he will likely ever experience, as only Cognizant Classic winner, Austin Eckroat (-17) finished ahead of his 14-under total. Min Woo Lee nestled up alongside in the end to share second, but van Rooyen was the delighted recipient of a significant check and a strong bundle of FedEx Cup and OWGR points.

To improve his day further, the 2023 WWT Championship winner also topped the prestigious Seminole Pro-Member's 'net' competition alongside his partner, John Pinkham.

Ready to hop into a car and travel back to PGA National should he have been needed, the closest van Rooyen came to doing so was on the eighth hole at Seminole.

But Eckroat powered his way towards a debut PGA Tour victory, and van Rooyen remained on site to help his team score net 62 and win via a scorecard playoff over Ryan Fox and Jimmy Dunne III in the highly-exclusive one-day competition.

In the 'gross' division of the two-person best-ball event, Canada's Mackenzie Hughes - partnered by investment banker, Frank Edwards - claimed victory by one shot from six other pairs having combined for a total of 64. The duo also ended the 'net' competition as one of the T2 teams.

In a star-studded group on T20 in the gross division, Rory McIlroy and his dad Gerry finished alongside the likes of Collin Morikawa/David Novak, Luke Donald/Eric Gleacher, and Trevor Immelman/Tim Neher on 68.

Justin Thomas and Mike Walrath, Nelly Korda and John Waldron, plus Tom Brady and Matt Cahill all ended one shot further back in T30.

On the adjusted side of the board, Tiger Woods and playing partner Seth Waugh - CEO of the PGA of America - finished five shots behind winners van Rooyen and Pinkham in T33 on 67. Woods and Waugh were T44 in the 'gross' division thanks to a 70.

Monday was Woods' first appearance since pulling out of February's Genesis Invitational with reported influenza. The 15-time Major winner is also expected to tee it up at next week’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass - although that will be confirmed one way or the other on Friday when the full field is announced.

The PGA Tour continues this week with the famed Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge.

Jim 'Bones' Mackay is widely considered to be one of the best - and most well-known - caddies on the PGA Tour due to his longevity in the game and his success alongside his professional playing partners.

But if you're not that familiar with him or would like to know even more, then keep reading to discover something new.

1. Mackay was born in Redhill, Surrey, England on May 8, 1965.

2. He and his family moved to New Smyrna Beach, Florida when Mackay was seven years old.

3. Mackay learned to play golf at his local municipal golf course in New Smyrna Beach, which was free to play after 3pm. He would ride down there on his bike, clean golf carts in order to hit range balls, and then go out onto the course after 3pm. Mackay revealed he would do that "360 days a year."

4. Mackay played golf for Columbus State University.

5. After working in the pro shop and bag room at Columbus' Green Island Country Club, he met the legendary Larry Mize, who lived in the area.

6. Mackay was set to accept a job at a bank after graduating, right as Mize and his former caddie split up. Despite initially being turned down after asking to become Mize's caddie, Mackay "wore him down" and later agreed a two-season deal with the 1987 Masters champion.

7. Mackay's nickname is 'Bones' after former Masters winner Fred Couples forgot the 6-foot 4-inch man's name in 1990.

8. Mackay is currently two-time Major winner, Justin Thomas' caddie. A job he has held since September 2021.

9. The English-born looper worked with Phil Mickelson for 25 years from 1992 and was on the bag for five of the left-hander's six Major victories.

10. 'Bones' has also caddied for Scott Simpson and Curtis Strange on the PGA Tour.

11. Mackay had double knee-replacement surgery in October 2016.

12. After splitting with Mickelson in 2017, Mackay filled in as an on-course reporter for NBC Sports throughout the rest of the season.

13. Mackay lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife, Jennifer (Olsen) - who he married in 2002. Jen is a friend of Phil Mickelson's wife, Amy.

14. In 2024, Mackay became the first full-time PGA Tour caddie to sign on for a regular tournament broadcasting role.

15. Mackay has represented the United States on 22 consecutive occasions as a member of Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams.

Justin Thomas' caddie, Jim 'Bones' Mackay is set to earn himself a little piece of history this week when he fulfils lead-analyst duties during NBC Sports' coverage of the Mexico Open on the PGA Tour.

With Thomas opting to have the week off after a disappointing Genesis Invitational and having competed in four of the past five events, the veteran tour looper is taking the opportunity to become the first active caddie ever to serve as the main color-commentator for the broadcaster.

First reported by Golfweek, Mackay is set to fill a hybrid role for NBC in its coverage. The 58-year-old will spend Thursday as an on-course reporter, a position he has previous experience in, before moving into the three-man booth alongside two of Brad Faxon, Steve Sands, and Dan Hicks, who will share hosting duties from Friday to Sunday.

Mackay is the latest in a growing list of names who have stepped in to hold the microphone after Paul Azinger departed NBC shortly after last year's Ryder Cup. Azinger did not have his contract renewed following brief negotiations into an extension, and since then, the American broadcaster has operated a 'rolling audition' as it searches for a long-term replacement.

Former Team Europe Ryder Cup captain and experienced commentator Paul McGinley temporarily stepped up during Tiger Woods' long-awaited comeback at the Hero World Challenge late last year, PGA Tour pro Kevin Kisner has twice had a go (The Sentry and WM Phoenix Open), Curt Byrum was lead analyst at the Sony Open in Hawaii, and Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee filled in across Nick Dunlap's extraordinary win at The American Express.

Since leaving Phil Mickelson's side following 25 years in 2017, 'Bones' has enjoyed several stints as an on-course reporter, including at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. His broadcasting debut arrived in 2015, though, when he was a roving reporter for GOLF Channel’s live tournament coverage of the RSM Classic.

However, according to Golfweek, Mackay is not interested in taking the lead-analyst position in the long term and remains committed to carrying Thomas' bag - a job he has held since 2021.

This week's PGA Tour event at Vidanta is the first of seven consecutive tournaments being broadcast by NBC.

After Hideki Matsuyama claimed $4m for his win at the third of the PGA Tour’s signature events of 2024, the Genesis Invitational, it’s back to a regular event this week with the Mexico Open at Vidanta Vallarta.

As a result, many of the world’s best players have opted not to head south from LA, while the prize fund of $8.1m if significantly lower than the $20m available at the Riviera Country Club tournament.

Despite that, there is still an eye-catching first prize on offer, with the winner set to claim $1.458m – over half of the entire purse of $2.5m for the other big men’s tournament taking place this week, the Magical Kenya Open on the DP World Tour.

The purse is also $400,000 higher than the 2023 edition of the tournament, when Tony Finau held off the challenge of Jon Rahm to win $1.386m. This week’s runner-up will have the consolation of an $882,900 payday. There are also 500 FedEx Cup points for grabs.

Below is the full prize money payout for the 2024 Mexico Open at Vadanta Vallarta.

Mexico Open Prize Money Payout 2024

Who Are The Star Names In The Mexico Open?

Four of the world’s top 50 are competing at the tournament, including defending champion Tony Finau. Last year, the American beat Spaniard Jon Rahm to claim the trophy by three shots, and he will be confident of a similar outcome given he is the highest-ranked player in the field at World No.24.

Ten places beneath Finau in the rankings is Team Europe Ryder Cup player Nicolai Hojgaard, who is still looking for his maiden PGA Tour win. Will this be the occasion?

Emiliano Grillo, who won the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge, and Ryan Fox who was one of 10 DP World Tour players to secure PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season, also play.

Rahm, who won the title in 2022, is unavailable after signing LIV Golf, and that also applies to Mexico’s two best players, Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz, but there is a place in the field for another Mexican, 2021 winner Alvaro Ortiz, whose three-shot win came in the tournament’s last as a PGA Tour Latinoamerica event.

Eight-time DP World Tour winner Thorbjorn Olesen, another member of Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup team, Robert MacIntyre, and Charley Hoffman, who finished runner up at the WM Phoenix Open, also play.

Justin Thomas has said he is "definitely not in agreement" with Rory McIlroy regarding LIV Golf League players being able to return to the PGA Tour without any level of punishment.

Up until the past few months, McIlroy had previously been a staunch critic of those who had departed the US-based tour for the PIF-funded circuit but has recently made a fairly remarkable u-turn on the subject.

Speaking to Sky Sports’ James Weir in December, McIlroy said he hoped the two parties could “let bygones be bygones” before going on to admit in January that he had been “too judgmental” of LIV defectors at the start of the League's existence.

And ahead of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA Tour last week, the 34-year-old said that any player who is eligible to return should be free to without the fear of any sort of punishment.

McIlroy said: “I mean, I think it's hard to punish people. I don't think there should be a punishment for - obviously I've changed my tune on that because I see where golf is and I see that having a diminished PGA Tour and having a diminished LIV Tour or anything else is bad for both parties.

“It would be much better being together and moving forward together for the good of the game. That's my opinion of it. So to me, the faster that we can all get back together and start to play and start to have the strongest fields possible I think is great for golf.”

However, Thomas - who has enjoyed an incredible return to form over the course of his past five starts either side of Christmas - remained on the fence when discussing a merger of sorts between the three main tours but was adamant any LIV player looking to come back should not be able to do without reprimand.

Asked whether the PGA Tour can form its own path after the recent $3 billion investment or the game still needs to work towards some sort of cohesive relationship, the 30-year-old - whose worst result since August's Wyndham Championship is T12 - said: "I'm not necessarily super adamant one way or the other. I want the best product and the best players.

"I would say that there's a handful of players on LIV that would make the [PGA Tour] a better place, but I'm definitely not in the agreement that they should just be able to come back that easily.

"I think there's a lot of us that made sacrifices and were very -- whether it's true to our word or what we believe in or just didn't make that decision, and I totally understand that things are changing and things are getting better, but it just would -- I would have a hard time with it, and I think a lot of guys would have a hard time with it, and I'm sure we don't need to convince you why we would have a hard time with it.

"I think there's a scenario somewhere, whatever it is, down the road of some kind of version of some guys being back, but when and what that is, I have no idea."

Thomas is playing in this week's WM Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour and will tee off alongside Adam Scott and Cameron Young at 14:44 ET (7:44pm GMT) on Thursday at TPC Scottsdale.

On Thursday Justin Thomas shot an 11-over 82, the worst round of his Major career. There have been rare glimpses of the old Thomas this year but, generally, it's been a bit of a write-off whether that's down to injury or poor form.

The 30-year-old was a Major winner in 2022 but now there's a doubt over his Ryder Cup inclusion for Rome. As things stand he's all the way down in 75th on the FedEx money list and in 13th spot on the Ryder Cup standings. On the upside his Cup record is 6-2-1 and he's got the huge added benefit of having the perfect partner in Jordan Spieth.

This week he's sharing a house with the US skipper Zach Johnson and the captain is confident that Thomas can turn things around – on Friday Thomas bounced back bravely with a level-par 71 to show some hint some brighter times ahead.

"As a friend and room mate, I'm concerned just because he's my buddy and I know what he's capable of and that sort of thing. Obviously he's a stalwart in that event, those kind of moments like that, he's one of the best there is," said Johnson.

"This game is really hard. There's going to be peaks. There's going to be some valleys. Let's hope whatever sort of non-peak he's in, it's short. I know he's got a great team. I love his coaches. I love how he works. Guys with talent like that aren't afraid to put their work in the dirt. It's just a matter of when, not if. He's too darned good. I might be slightly concerned, like I said, as a friend, but I'm not worried about him because I know what he does and I know what he's capable of."

Qualification for the US team will conclude on August 20 after the BMW Championship with six players securing their spots and Johnson rounding out the team with the other half dozen.

The hope, for Johnson, is that Thomas and others can turn things quickly around and make his job a lot more straightforward.

"There's still some golf left. I know he's got some plans to play some more golf. It fuels him. You can tell he wants to be there. My hope is that JT and all those guys, I want all those guys in good form. I want them to make my decision really difficult."

As for Thomas himself he's hoping that his record – along with an upturn in form – will secure a third Ryder Cup appearance.

"I would like to think that my record is my best argument. I love the team events. I thrive in them. I just enjoy it. Playing with a partner could kind of ease me a little bit, relax me. I hate even having to hope for a pick. This is the first time since I first qualified that I've had to rely on a captain's pick, and it's not fun, especially when you're trending the wrong way when other people are trending toward it.

"I'm hitting a lot of good shots. I'm just making so many bonehead mistakes and crazy things happening, and I'll be fine. I want to make the Ryder Cup more than anything. I'm probably honestly trying too hard to do it. It reminds me a lot of my first or second year on Tour. 

"I'm trying to look at the big picture. I'm trying to not focus too much on days like Thursday – you never want to do it in any event but it just sucks when it's the first round of a Major and you have no chance any more."

Justin Thomas is hoping a switch to a cross handed putting grip can help not only his form on the greens but his overall golf game in order to salvage a disappointing season.

The 30-year-old hasn't won for over a year and his form has been so poor this year that he arrived in Scotland down in the 70th and final place to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

His putting has been a major problem for the 15-time PGA Tour winner, sitting way down in 147th in Strokes Gained on the greens and his woes with the flat stick crept into his overall game.

Needing to find something, Thomas switched to putt cross handed on the back nine of his second round at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit and shot 69.

He used it from the start at the Genesis Scottish Open and return a first round of 68 with 28 putts at the Renaissance Club - where he hopes he can kick-start his season with his revamped putting grip.

“I’ve done it randomly here and there," Thomas said of putting left hand low. "I did it in junior golf some, I won a couple college tournaments doing it. 

"I used to change and tinker with stuff a lot more, kind of like mid-round. I remember our tournament, the Jerry Pate, my freshman year. 

“I wasn’t putting good, and I just said screw it, I’m putting cross handed, and I won by like five or six that week."

With the Open Championship, then FedEx Cup Playoffs and Ryder Cup all still to come, it could still be a big year for Thomas, who is just trying to focus on playing well again and let the rest take care of itself.

“It’s hard to get yourself to belief that tomorrow could be the day, or this could be the shot or this could be the round,” he said. 

“I'm trying to not think about things that are happening or could happen down the line, or the playoffs, or trying to make this or that because I remember doing that my rookie year or trying to make the Tour Championship my second year, really fighting to try to make the Ryder Cup. Nothing good comes from that.

“I just have to go out and try to play the best I possibly can, and try to win golf tournaments and get in contention and good stuff will happen.”

How To Watch Genesis Scottish Open Live Stream 2023

Rory McIlroy, who has not won in Scotland in his career, leads going into the final round by one a shot after a three-under par third-round. He was four under after 11 holes but, in his own words, “made that first bogey on 12 and it was a little scrappy coming in from there.”

It is congested at the top of the leaderboard with 17 players within 5 shots of the lead. There is a competition-within-a-competition in that the final three qualifying places for The Open will go to the three highest finishers at the Genesis Scottish Open who have not already qualified. Eric Cole and Byeong Hun An lead the chase for these places.

To make sure you miss none of the action, below are all the streaming and broadcast details on how to watch a Genesis Scottish Open live stream from wherever you are, as well as today's tee times.

The Genesis Scottish Open boasts a stellar field including defending champion Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, Max Homa, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Jordan Spieth. Eight of the world’s top-10 ranked golfers will be playing with only Jon Rahm and LIV Golf’s Cam Smith absent. The field also includes the current US Open champion, and world number 11, Wyndham Clark, and past Major champions Justin Thomas, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry and Adam Scott.

The Genesis Scottish Open is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour. This, allied to it being played the week before the Open Championship with a prize fund of $9,000,000, has attracted many top golfers from the US circuit.

It is a modern course on the East Lothian coast adjacent to Muirfield, designed by American Tom Doak. It opened in 2008, and was extensively remodelled a few years later. Built with the intention of attracting top professional events, it has been home to the Scottish Open since 2019, and has also hosted the 2017 Scottish Senior Open and the Ladies Scottish Opens of 2019 and 2020.

The course is “packed with variety, originality and wow-factor,” according to our reviewer Rob Smith. Although not a true links course, it does blend aspects of links and inland golf, as it runs through and beside ancient pine woodland, along cliffs and over drystone walls. It opens with several holes carved through the forest before heading towards the Firth of Forth where the best holes are found around the turn.

If you're looking for a Genesis Scottish Open live stream, the article below will tell you how to watch the latest tournament from the DP World Tour.

UK TV Schedule – How To Watch Genesis Scottish Open Live Stream

All times BST

Thursday, July 13: 8am-6.30pm (Sky Sports Golf)

Friday, July 14: 8am-6.30pm (Sky Sports Golf)

Saturday, July 15: 7am-2pm (Sky Sports Golf)

Sunday, July 16: 7am-2pm (Sky Sports Golf)

In the UK, Sky Sports should be your first port of call as Sky Sports Golf will televise action from the event. At the moment Sky has some great deals on Sky Sports for those looking to upgrade and those looking to sign up to Sky for the first time.

You can get all eight Sky Sports channels in HD for just £25 a month which not only includes all the golf action, but you can also watch the football, cricket, Formula 1, NFL and a whole host of other sporting events.

Genesis Scottish Open Live Stream Live Stream: How to watch from outside your country

There are loads of easy ways to watch golf in 2023 including in the US, UK and almost anywhere else but you won't be able to tune into your regular streaming service if you're away from home because of geo-blocking. Fortunately, VPNs allow you to tune in from abroad and let you watch the same legal, high-quality golf live stream you would at home.

ExpressVPN is one of the best out there. It's easy to use, boasts strong security features, is very easy to setup and is compatible with most major streaming devices, including the  Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox and PlayStation.

Best of all, ExpressVPN comes with a 30 day money back guarantee. This is the #1 rated VPN in the world right now. You can try it out for a month for free or sign up for an annual plan and get 3 months absolutely free.

US TV Schedule – How To Watch Genesis Scottish Open Live Stream

All times EDT

Thursday, July 13: 8.30am-12.30pm (Golf Channel)

Friday, July 14: 8.30am-12.30pm (Golf Channel)

Saturday, July 15: 4am-6am (Golf Channel)

Sunday, July 16: 4.30am-6.30am-12pm (Golf Channel) 

NBC's Golf Channel will televise the action from the Genesis Scottish Open. If you already have the Golf Channel as part of your cable TV package, then you're all set.

No cable? No problem. Try a cord-cutting TV service such as fuboTV ($74.99), AT&T TV Now ($80/m) or Sling ($51/m) to watch the Golf Channel. There are no long contracts with these services. You can try them and cancel whenever you've had enough. FuboTV has a 7-day free trial.

For Sling you'll need the Sling Blue package plus the Sports Extra add-on which usually has a very reasonable introductory price for your first month. Again, just cancel when you're done.

Australia TV Schedule – How To Watch Genesis Scottish Open Live Stream

All times AEST

Thursday, July 13: 5pm-3.30am Kayo Sports (Fox Sports)

Friday, July 14: 5pm-3.30am Kayo Sports (Fox Sports)

Saturday, July 15: 7.30pm-5am Kayo Sports (Fox Sports)

Sunday, July 16: 7.30pm-5am Kayo Sports (Fox Sports)

As ever in Australia the most comprehensive golf coverage is offered by Kayo Sports where you can watch Fox Sports that broadcasts the PGA Tour coverage. Not only can you watch the action from North Berwick here, it also has all the PGA Tour, DP World Tour events and the Majors. It also has events on the LPGA as well.

It also offers access to over 50 sports live and on-demand, with some its big name channels including Fox Sports, ESPN, and beIN Sports.

It's also good value at either $25 for Kayo One, $30 for Kayo Basic or $35 for Kayo Premium. Basic lets you stream sport on two devices at once, while Premium allows you to watch on up to three screens simultaneously, so it represents great value if your household has different sporting tastes or you're splitting the cost of the subscription. There's even a free 7-day trial.

As ever, Aussies out of the country can access their favourite streaming service just like they would at home can use a VPN to watch their Tour live stream of choice.

Genesis Scottish Open tee times and pairings: Round 4

Leading players’ tee times (in PT/ET/BST/AEST) and scores:

* = not currently qualified into this year’s Open Championship

• 12.02am/3.02am/8.02am/5.02pm Xander Schauffele (-7), Tyrrell Hatton (-8), Sebastian Soderberg* (-8)
• 12.13am/3.13am/8.13am/5.13pm Joakim Lagergren* (-8), David Lingmerth* (-8), Robert MacIntyre (-8)
• 12.24am/3.24am/8.24am/5.24pm Max Homa (-9), Harry Hall (-9), Tom Hoge (-9)
• 12.35am/3.35am/8.35am/5.35pm Byeong Hun An* (-10), Scottie Scheffler (-10), Shane Lowry (-10)
• 12.46am/3.46am/8.46am/5.46pm JT Poston (-10), Eric Cole* (-10), Brian Harman (-11)
• 12.57am/3.57am/8.57am/5.57pm Tommy Fleetwood (-11), Tom Kim (-12), Rory McIlroy (-13)

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Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler are known for enjoying their golfing trips together, but they’ve also been living it up on their arrival in the UK as they started preparations for the Open Championship in style.

The three PGA Tour stars along with their wives first of all had a dream weekend in London, taking in the tennis at Wimbledon before enjoying a few beers around the capital.

From there, it was up to Scotland and some practice out on the links at the glorious North Berwick before the trio tackle the Genesis Scottish Open at nearby Renaissance Club.

And taking advantage of the summer conditions in Scotland, Thomas and Spieth joined old buddy Smylie Kaufman on the tee at 8pm at North Berwick with still plenty of light to work with.

Fowler was also a visitor at North Berwick a bit earlier as the club’s social feed posted a video of him tackling the course before he returns to Royal Liverpool – where he finished second to Rory McIlroy the last time Hoylake hosted the Open in 2014.

There's also been some serious work being put in with Spieth being shown at the Renaissance Club where the three Americans will look to get in some tournament links golf ahead of the Open.

Then from Scotland it will be full steam ahead to the Wirral Peninsula and the 151st Open Championship - an event Spieth won at Royal Birkdale not too far away up the coast from Hoylake.

Fowler went close at Royal Liverpool before so should fancy his chances after he recently got back to winning ways and also after getting into contention at the US Open.

Thomas really should have the game to excel at links golf given his shot-making ability but it's never really happened for him in the Open, with just one T11 finish his only one inside the top 40 in six attempts.

All three should at least tee off at the Scottish Open in good spirits given their adventures in London, which although a little bit more grown up than their golf boys spring break adventures a few years ago, still seem like their having the time of their lives and enjoying the trappings of being some of the best golfers on the planet.

Justin Thomas is enduring a tough spell on the PGA Tour and has carded only three top-10 finishes since the turn of the year.

However, one of those came in last week’s Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, where he finished tied for ninth, which hinted a run of better form may not be far away.

Thomas is back in action again this week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. As he prepares for that challenge, he reflected on how he has stayed strong mentally during a run of form that included a missed cut at the US Open with a second round of 81 he described as "humiliating." 

He said: “It's tough. I work on it like I work on my wedge game. I practice it, I try to learn from it like I do every tournament. I think after it was done long enough and I was able to reflect, I learned a lot from the US Open.

“I felt like I was playing - I know I was playing the best golf that I've played in a really long time. I mean, I'm talking two, three, four, five years. Because of that, my expectations got up and I fully expected to go win that golf tournament.

“I started I was playing more golf swing than I was golf and that got in the way. Last week I wasn't feeling great about my golf swing in the beginning of the week and I kind of said screw it, I'm just going to go out here and hit shots and play golf. “

That approach certainly worked in Connecticut in a performance that included a hugely impressive eight-under round of 62 on the Saturday. Thomas then revealed a message from his wife Jillian Wisniewski before the tournament that had helped him get in the right headspace for the tournament.

He continued: “All the credit to, honestly, my wife Wednesday night last week sent me a text that I woke up to Thursday that just kind of, it resonated to me and it really hit home better than anything I've heard.

“Just basically said remember why you love this game and why you play this game and why you're out there, just enjoy that and kind of take it in. It hit home for me.”

Thomas admitted the timely message stayed with him while he was competing. He said: “So last week, any kind of challenge I faced, anything good that happened, anything bad that happened, I just kind of remembered this is why I play professional golf and that's, it's why I'm doing this. You know, it's like anything, you just try to get better.”

'I Need To Take It One Step At A Time'

Thomas also revealed that, despite his recent issues on the course, he still optimistic of reaching the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake for an eighth straight season, but admitted there’s work to be done. 

He said: “I need to take it one step at a time. I'm very fortunate that I've never been in this position in my career, but unfortunately I need to play some good golf to be worried about - not worried, but to take it one step at a time.

“In the past I've kind of already been looking at East Lake at this point in the season, but I'm not in that spot right now so I just need to continue to keep building and keep working on what I have been."

Keegan Bradley says he’s “still got a lot to show the captain” after his home victory at the Travelers Championship catapulted him right into the thick of the race for the automatic spots in the Team USA Ryder Cup standings.

Bradley’s second win of the wraparound PGA Tour season vaulted him up 13 places in the Ryder Cup standings into seventh place – just one outside of the top six that get automatic places on Zach Johnson’s team for Rome.

The 37-year-old also rose up into No.18 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), which is his highest mark since 2014 – the year he made his second Ryder Cup appearance in his last outing for Team USA in any team event.

And Bradley is determined to get back onto Team USA as they look to win on European soil for the first time in 30 years – turning his attention to it immediately after his Travelers win.

"It is the first thing I said to my wife walking up to sign my card: This is a pretty big step towards (Ryder Cup qualification)," said Bradley after winning the Travelers.

"I'm 37 years old. I hope to play in multiple more. I don't know how many more with everybody so good and the younger kids, just the team is incredible."

The 2011 PGA Championship winner’s resurgence offers Johnson yet another option, but in a way adds to his selection headache with so many players pushing for inclusion.

Johnson already has the LIV Golf scenario to deal with – Brooks Koepka looks pretty safe in the third automatic spot, with a strong finish at the Open probably tying up his place, while Scottie Scheffler and Wyndham Clark also look locked in.

It’s a scramble for the other three automatic spots though and the six captain’s picks could be tricky with Dustin Johnson wanting to play and having that brilliant perfect record at Whistling Straits in 2021 – he’d be tough to leave out.

You could also throw in Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed from LIV Golf, while among those currently outside of the automatic spots are Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau, Cameron Young and Sam Burns.

Bradley wouldn’t have been too high up on Johnson’s list for wildcards, but if he continues his form and manages to qualify or just falls short, he’ll have to also be thrown into what is a crowded mix for places.

Bradley has had mixed experiences in his two Ryder Cups, making a huge splash in 2012 despite the Americans suffering that huge upset defeat in the Miracle of Medinah comeback by Europe.

A splendid partnership with Phil Mickelson saw them win all three of their matches, before Bradley lost to Rory McIlroy in that epic Sunday singles.

Qualifying for 2012, Bradley was then a wildcard pick for captain Tom Watson at Gleneagles in 2014, where he went 1-2 and lost the decisive singles match against Jamie Donaldson – so he’ll be keen to get back in the side to put that record straight.