Justin Thomas Wednesday Press Conference 2024 BMW Championship

all right we'll keep things rolling we are joined with 2019 BMW Championship winner Justin Thomas Justin welcome back making your ninth tournament appearance just want to get some thoughts on just got done with your program and what your thoughts are of the course it's a very cool course it's it's all right in front of you it's um obviously like everybody else this week just trying to get a gauged for the altitude and uh and catch your breath when you're uh when you have to hit after walking up some big Hills but no it's it's a very it's it's a cool place and I think it's um you know it's one that maybe requires a little bit of strategy on some clubs you can hit off te's but for the most part it's just going to be of of who can control their distance the best and um and you know take advantage of those opportunities when they get them perfect I'm already going to go and open up to the media to keep it going keep it going keep it rolling we're going let's go with Cameron here in the front uh hey Justin we've had uh pretty historic years by by Scotty and Xander as well um I just wondering if you had a choice to take one of those Seasons or the other um which one of them would you take and why yeah I've had this conversation with a couple different group texts um it's tough I I think it's very situational of where you are in your career um like for me personally I mean I'm to two major sounds a lot cooler than one uh but then again winning six times all of which being elevated events and players and a gold medal sounds nice too uh might be better to answer that question if something were to happen you know the next couple weeks but for me personally I I would um I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I would take xanders just because of two majors but um but yeah talk about a no lose situation those are two pretty good ones then just just to follow up if some were someone were to ask you they didn't know much about golf perhaps oh you got these these two guys one two in the FedEx Cup what's the difference between Sheffer and shley they their last names sound the same um what's what's the difference how do they approach it differently or or or are they just pretty much approaching it the same way uh I wouldn't say they're I wouldn't say they approach it the same way I mean they're both um really good at everything I think that's that's something that's very similar with them with them both especially this year is that they every every aspect of the game they uh do really well so that's that's always a good thing but I think they're you know they're known for different things I mean I think I've always said I think if you could choose any any player on tour of uh you know to have a putt on your line that you could get a read from I think Xander is number one I mean he how how well he rolls it it and he lines it up and the ball rolls end end over end every time I mean it's he just it's very very impressive kind of watching him go around a course and both of them are so good at minimizing mistakes so I think that's why they found them themselves in contention so often because they make so few Bogies that um as many birdie chances as they give them themselves it's kind of hard not to and we're going to go over here Doug then we'll bring the microphone over to Dan it is are you one at 22 in the in the FedEx Cup or are you one to want to know kind of what your scenario is to get to East Lake or would you just rather go play and shoot the best score you can without knowing to think i' I'd definitely rather just try to play as well as I can and um I mean I know that if I put myself in contention to win the tournament and and have a good chance and I'll be more than okay um I think uh you know the there's a lot I'm sure a lot of statistics and and involved of what percent chance you have how many points it might take to get through and I probably I'm not the person to ask because my rookie year when I finished in finished at this tournament I was told that I'm in Atlanta and everything you know I'm in and there was a lot of groups left and I went on to finished 31st so uh I'm not a huge fan of that uh situation when you finish on 18 and being told what's happening because there's so many as we saw last week there's a lot of variables and things that can happen so uh I just I feel like trying to finish a certain you know top 16 or whatever the heck it may be like I know I'm in a a good place and feel like likely would if I play how I feel like I should I'm fine but I'm trying to get move up as far as possible to start as many underpar as I can next week and then another one I'm trying to get Daniel burer out of my head um sorry I don't know if the right word is is uh comfortable or anxiety or however you describe it your feeling now about being on the President's Cup team how would you compare it with where you were a year ago as it related to the writer cup i' I'd say both of those both of those words come to mind comfort and anxiety I think last year I had a lot of anxiety about making the Ryder Cup team and um I want to make the president Cup team just as bad but I I just I'm in such a better place and my game is in such a better place that I I'm not coming to tournament trying to play well to try to make a team or to try like I I feel that I'm fully capable and I'm playing well enough that I'm can win every tournament I'm playing in it's just about you know putting myself there and doing it so I think that's just the biggest difference is that last year I was playing well or I was I was playing to try to play well to make the Ryder Cup team versus now I feel I'm I'm trying to play well to try to win golf tournaments and try to have a chance at the FedEx Cup and I feel like if I do those things then that should be good enough for the presence Cup team and um my want like I said my want is there just as bad it's just the how I'm thinking about it in my head is a lot healthier and a lot better Dan on the left how how would you rate your season your year so far uh I mean it's been it's been fine I'd say it's I mean it's been a good year it's it just hasn't I feel like I've done a lot a lot of really good things I just I just haven't I haven't scored as well as I feel like I've kind of played especially these last couple tournaments I feel like um you know getting off to a good start and I mean most seasons for everybody kind of have ups and downs and and kind of the after the start of the Year feel like I just kind of hit a little bit of a lull of of getting back in contention and um I mean the biggest thing is I just you know hav't haven't won and I think that's the really the the only thing or the difference of keeping it from being a you know a really really good year and I have two weeks left to to try to capitalize on that and and see if we can't you know make it a great year so this schedule for next year came out recently it looks pretty similar um strategic Sports Group they invested all this money do you get the sense that moving forward past 25 it will start to look different or they're going to start to make the changes will start to implement I don't know I mean I would think that uh it it's going to change at some point I don't know when it is I mean I think everything does eventually and I think when all of us are and and the tour is is pretty committed to trying to make our product as as good as humanly possible I'm sure that there's other ways to do that and what that is I don't know but um it wouldn't yeah it wouldn't surprise me to see things different after after uh next year back over to the right we have Ben and Scotty was just talking about how a big part of his preparation is sort of money matches against other guys and having that out there uh I want to know cuz he said that he played you on Monday is he's dominant in those matches as he has been on the major course he said I should ask you yeah well uh all I know is our match got rained out so uh it was a draw if you ask me but um that's that's uh the only thing that I remember it as I we definitely weren't too down through through 13 we it was a push in general though is that something that helps you guys prepared to have something even if it's just a little something have that friendly banter Etc in prep I like it I think it's it's kind of situational on as weird as it is on courses you know I think um you know we get to places that we've been a lot I think it's just you can kind of go through the motions and it's just it's it can almost be a wasted day or a wasted practice round so um you know you end up hitting the same chips you the same putts you already know what they do and then you get to like five or six and you're like I'm I'm over this day so I think everybody's different but for me I definitely like having something you know even it's just a birdie game of like hey you know you don't make birdie you're just we're done with the hole and you can go on about your business but I like doing it just for the for the sake of the competition and um because it is there's something about having to hand over $100 or whatever it may be that that hurts worse than you know a lot a lot more money than that very front here we have Gary uh so when the PGH was here before it was a modified stable for system so I'm trying to get a sense for in stroke play terms what what would you guess from seeing it the last few days what what would be a good winning score here in your estimation I'm terrible at like I'm I'm absolutely terrible at that if I had to guess I would guess like most events it'd be 15 to 20 under um I mean it just depends on how the fairways are are pretty pretty receptive I mean they're they're generous um a lot of less than drivers um but I also thought like six under was going to win Madina and I think I shot 24 or five so uh as I said I'm I'm pretty terrible at guessing so all I know is I hope whatever I shoot is the winning score we have on the very back and the right over the course of your career you have uh obviously had friendships with Bill and John and uh Bruce and a number of the other guys that have gone to live could you speak to your relationships today with those guys and and if there are any Communications and what the state of that relationship is yeah I mean it was uh I would say it was a kind of a cordial friendship or relationship I mean just similar to what it is now I mean we never were planning any trips together or or having dinners together or anything like that it was just you know we were peers that played played with and against each other on tour and um and you know we said hey and caught up when we saw each other and and nothing's changed from you know when I've seen them in the majors you just say hi and kind of go about your business we have time for just two more we have Doug and then we'll go to Cameron trying to end this on a positive note but I'm curious what is what do you consider to be the single greatest meltdown you've ever had uh on the golf course and what did you learn from it how did it meltdown yeah wow not score but meltdown so like emotionally not as much a very much emotionally emotionally um go back to Kevin tanan and the US kids if you want to any no that was that's a tough one I can't nothing which is shocking nothing comes to mind like of any like uh outbursts or anything that maybe I like I saw on camera or something to where it was like wow like I look really dumb and I'm sure I'm not saying I haven't had those moments I definitely have but nothing fortunately that has been enough of an issue or or enough of a a thing to been uh brought to my attention for sure yeah I'd say I I don't know when this was but I I mean I I was always a very fiery kid I mean I would get pretty pissed off and and you know slam clubs or whatever and it it wasn't it was not a good look and my dad always you know preached attitude on me and to and to have a better attitude and everything and we were out playing with a member one day and I mean I was probably eight or nine years old and you know I I don't know what I did but I had one of my little temper tantrums and my dad was pretty embarrassed you know playing with a member and being the pro of the club and he's like I'm so sorry and the and the member uh he said he's like well he's like I get you know I get it he wants to play well he's like but one thing is he's like you can't you can't put the fire in somebody but you can kind of rain it down and I think when my dad heard that it it kind of resonated or click to him that it's it's hard for someone who's very here to be like all right just so some passion like really really get into this you know what I mean versus I I find it a lot easier or at least at least better for me personally of like okay I have that like I have that fire and and and intenseness and it's easier to as I matured and got in order to kind of tame it down a little bit so um that's been a big thing for me that I've learned just through experiences and and trial of different things of you know it doesn't it it doesn't work for me to to go out there like DJ like you know I I love his demeanor and Xander like I love his demeanor but you know like I'm I need to slam a club every once in a while like if that's what I got to do to get it out of my system like that's what works for me as long as nothing is first off I'm not embarrassing myself making you know hurting a golf course doing anything like that but as long as my next shot isn't affected by that then whatever I got to do I got to do and we'll take final one with back Cameron uh Justin back on the subject of President's Cup sah falas is currently projected to be on that team I believe I was wondering if you had much uh chance to see his game and um also what what would you think of him as a potential partner or teammate on the President's Cup team yeah his game is is really impressive I played with him um a couple times this year and I I I like I like what he does it's it's it's similar to I feel like how I play golf very feel you know he's not scared to to aim 40 50 yards left of a and hit a huge slice out there just he's very he has unbelievable hands unbelievable touch and just and and obviously great instincts to where um you know it's not necessarily I'm sure he has his certain fundamentals or things that he checks but it's more about am I getting the ball in the hole as quick as possible or am I hitting the Fairway however I can not as it some certain position so I I I like that about him and I 100% I mean he's got he's got all the shots he's a very he's a obviously a great competitor and he's put himself in contention of a lot of big tournaments and um I think it you know obviously hope to be on that team whether I'm on that team or not I think we have a great opportunity of some some young guys that I would love to partner with with any of them but um you know I need to need to play my way on that team first perfect that's all the questions we have thanks for the time good luck this week