ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Few players possess the competitive fire that Justin Thomas has burning inside of him. To say he can “run hot’’ at times is insult to “hot.’’
Thomas’ emotions are embroidered on his sleeve. Sometimes, that can be a detriment, but more often that fuel propels him to do great things. Things like winning the PGA Championship twice in the seven he’s played in his career.
Thomas is the defending champion at this week’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club, because, with the brilliant button-pushing help of his veteran caddie, Jim “Bones’’ Mackay, he managed those high emotions a year ago at Southern Hills, shook off a maddening third round that left him adrift on the leaderboard, and righted himself.
After shooting 74 Saturday, Thomas, on the advice of Mackay and despite the fact that the Oklahoma weather was bordering on frigid, spent some time on the practice range beating balls and beating himself up before going back to his rental home.
“The biggest thing for me was honestly just getting it out of my system Saturday before I left the golf course, and I think that was something Bones did a great job with,’’ Thomas recalled Monday. “I couldn’t leave the property or the golf course in that frame of mind. It’s not healthy. I needed to be leaving on a lot more positive note and almost just go down there and just vent and just kind of get it out of me.
“That’s kind of when Bones told me, ‘We’re doing a lot of great things, playing some really good golf, and you’re still a great player. Let’s not let one round change that.’
“It worked out well.’’
It sure did. Some 24 hours later, Thomas was hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy and kissing it for the cameras on the 18th green after defeating Will Zalatoris in a playoff.
“The fiery aspect of his mental game I love,’’ CBS lead analyst Trevor Immelman told The Post. “It’s one of the reasons he’s so good. It’s authentically Justin Thomas. It’s how he’s been since he was a junior. I hope he never squashes that or loses that. It’s one of the things that gives him a cool edge.’’
On the golf course this season, though, Thomas has lost his edge with his clubs, arriving to Oak Hill after a season of subpar results by his lofty standards. In 11 PGA Tour events this season, Thomas has only one top-five finish and another top-10. He tied for 60th at the Players Championship and missed the cut by miles at the Masters.
After winning last year’s PGA, Thomas finished tied for 37th at the U.S. Open and tied for 53rd at the British Open.
These results have made for a difficult mental wrestling match for Thomas trying to manage his emotions and stave off his anger.
“It’s very frustrating,’’ he said. “It’s easier said than done in terms of thinking big picture, thinking process, thinking ‘I’m going to be better off for this.’ At the end of the day, after a couple of months or six months, whatever it is, where you’re not performing as well as you feel like you should and not having the finishes you feel like you should or not winning tournaments like you feel like you should, it’s pretty easy to get pissed off.’’
Thomas was encouraged by the way he played in his most recent event, the Wells Fargo two weeks ago when he finished tied for 14th.
Thomas said after that week in Charlotte, “I’m starting to see a little bit of a light at the end of the tunnel.’’
But he conceded that, at times this year, he’s come to tournaments wondering if he could win instead of expecting to win.
“It sucks,’’ he said. “It’s terrible. I described it for a couple months [as] I’ve never felt so far and so close at the same time. That’s a very hard thing to explain, and it’s also a very hard way to try to compete and win a golf tournament.
“That’s how you get out of it, just playing your way out of it and hitting the shots when you want to and making those putts when you need to, and then your confidence builds back up, and next thing you know, you don’t even remember what you were thinking in those times.’’
Immelman believes this week could be a big breakthrough for Thomas.
“Like most players of his great caliber, they are generally closer to playing well than what they think or what they feel,’’ Immelman said. “He comes here as defending champion and all those great memories, even though it was at a different venue, will come flooding back, so that should give him a pop of confidence. With all that stuff, and his form having been better at Quail Hollow, I wouldn’t be surprised if he plays well.’’
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