Justin Thomas Thursday Flash Interview 2024 Tour Championship © PGA Tour

I would think it was a mission accomplished at least for the first day to get yourself up the board right for sure no it's um it's a it's a weird spot to be in you kind of I was joking with uh with Scotty and saying I I forget who we were talking with yesterday but just being the position I'm in I was like I feel like I kind of had a decent idea of what the rest of the week would hold through 12 or 13 holes you know what I mean it's like obviously you have a lot of golf left but if you're one or two over through 12 you know when you're starting where I am it's uh bit of a buzz kill but um I played really solid today and uh you know just felt like I kind of took advantage of the chances I had you were talking yesterday about you didn't know how many birdies were out there but you made Seven um were you surprised the green seemed a little more receptive I mean how did that go it def they definitely seemed more receptive than I thought that they have been or um yeah I don't know uh if they just put a lot of water on them or what but they definitely were holding better than I thought uh it's you know they I think they did a great job with with some of the pins I mean the the par 3es if they uh they had the pins tucked up front that they move the t's up I mean number two that pin would have been impossible you know with a six or seven or even eight iron from the from the back today so uh hard nine right exactly um yeah it it's you know it is what it is and I feel like it they'll kind of I'm sure go in waves of how they'll set the course up but it it was thought fairly Gable today yeah my point is you could attack yeah can you take us through the hours after you finished on Sunday and just sort of how you tracked it and when you kind of felt good and just what about getting here um I mean I wasn't going to wait all all afternoon so I I went home I was like I'll just go back to Jupiter and um you know I I I felt like I felt like I was I had to have a lot of things I would say not go my way to get in I mean although it it for a while there or for a little bit it looked like I wasn't going to but a lot of people needed to play well for me to not get in because of how poorly I played um but I went home so I I think we took off around like 1 1:30 and um my parents and rev and my trainer kobby were flying home and I told my parents CU I know my they'd be looking non-stop I was like we're not talking about it don't even look at it or I was like you you can look at it but just don't talk about it uh rev didn't want anything to do with it um I couldn't help myself I was looking Non-Stop and I just know when I left for the airport or like took off I think I was like 93 or 94% chance to be in so I felt good about that and and then it was I I to get my mind off it just started playing cards with my dad and it felt like literally every time I opened my phone it just was getting worse and worse and worse and worse and people just kept making birdies that I need to not make birdies and um I would say a couple nervous beers turned into a couple Angry Beers cuz it looked like I wasn't going to get in and uh I was bummed but but like I said there was just so many people that needed to finish in the top five or six to to really hurt me that you know I'm never rooting against people but maybe not rooting for them is probably the right way to say it and um so yeah I probably 30 40 minutes before we landed we knew I was good so were you on the plane when you found out yeah yeah Smiley was calling the past couple groups and um I hope I don't get him in trouble he was texting me live updates cuz you know Wi-Fi wasn't great and he was I mean he was like sending me pictures of Lies he was telling me what was going on so I uh I have Smiley to thank a lot for for the updates and by getting back here in what ways do you feel like maybe you're you're back and things are better than last year and where do you feel like you still need to go well I mean you can always improve in this game but I I just just being back here I think I said it in my presser yesterday I think I really took for granted being here I I think I always felt like I should be I mean I do feel like I should be here but I just felt like it was an automatic and um it's just not the case I mean it's this is just it's a brutal Sport and it's I think with the condensed schedule it's it's harder even you know it's it's not a you really really have to play solid golf to get in the top 50 let Al than the top 30 so um I'm very proud to be here and you know feel like I although there's plenty of tournaments I would have liked to finish better or have a win or two this year I'm I'm still proud that I am here and have a chance so uh just keep building off that just logistically how does that look when you find out late Sunday that you're playing this week is it something you've always planned to do to be here or are you then trying to figure out or is your team trying to figure out where you're going to stay and all the boring stuff uh I I had planned to be here I I mean it's like I said it it was the chances were good enough that it was um you know that it looked like I was but but then with not playing well it was like all right well you're not doing yourself any favors type thing and I I didn't have an issue coming here you know night or Tuesday morning and and I ended up just kind of having a nice day at home on Monday practicing and working out and just relaxing and coming here Tuesday morning but um but yeah I had the hotel just had to move it back a couple days and and I was happy to as opposed to just canceling it all together and uh yeah so we're glad to glad to be here and if things had worked out differently and you weren't here this week how would this week have looked for you with the president cup be coming up in a few weeks uh well I I wouldn't like my chances very much that's for sure but but I don't know I mean it's it's hard to say cuz I missed the playoffs as a whole last year and obviously got for the Ryder Cup but it's a you know there there's so many guys that are deserving um they they'll be you know three four guys that don't get picked that are very deserving whether they're here or not so that's that's just how deep I think Golf and Us Golf is right now and a lot of young hungry guys but uh yeah it would have been uh I I I I kind of i' Eyal I was probably going to go to the Western Kentucky Alabama game this weekend but um again I'm very happy to not do that and how much have you being in touch with Jim pick not much a little bit I mean he's he's he never wants to bother us he never I mean he's like not only is he playing some but this is a pretty obviously important part of our season so I don't think he wants to feel like he's a burden or or um distracting Us by any means so I mean you know I've seen him here and there and and just really had like one conversation with them but uh it's it's an awkward place to be in cuz I I don't really know my place or my role and I don't I never want to overstep or not be involved or whatever and so that's why I'm just I'm staying out of it I feel like more so and just trying to play good golf cuz that takes care of more than anything awesome thank