Justin Thomas ties course record at TPC Sawgrass in The Players Championship
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Justin Thomas reacts after making a birdie putt on the 17th hole during the second round of The Players Championship.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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MIAMI – Justin Thomas came within one shot of breaking the TPC Sawgrass course record on March 14 at The Players Championship – but a water ball on the final hole led to a bogey and the two-time Major champion settled for a 10-under 62 and a share of the mark.
Tom Hoge shot the first 62 at Sawgrass in the third round of the 2023 Players, when Thomas happened to be his playing partner. Flash forward to the 2025 second round, when Thomas – who was in danger of missing the cut following an opening-round 78 – was one errant shot from turning in the first 61.
Despite his tough finish, he was proud of his outing.
“That was one of the best rounds I’ve played, for sure,” said the American, now four-under 140 for the tournament and tied for 29th, seven behind leaders Min Woo Lee of Australia and Akshay Bhatia who both carded 66s.
He birdied 11 of his first 17 holes without a bogey. He made a dramatic, 18½-foot birdie putt at the Stadium Course’s famed par-three 17th hole that slowly broke from right to left.
But after hitting his tee shot at No. 18 into the right-side rough, his recovery attempt rolled off the fairway and into the water. The ensuing penalty stroke made it nearly impossible for him to make the par save necessary to break the course record, but Thomas gave it his all, sticking his pitch shot inside two feet to set up a tap-in for bogey.
“I just wanted to make another birdie, and then once I missed the fairway, birdie is kind of out of the question,” Thomas added. “And then I was trying to hit something short of the green there and the rough grabbed the face enough to have it shoot out straight left, and with the momentum of that ball, it’s obviously going in the water.
“But I very easily could have hit it where I wanted to, hit a really good pitch or chip and a really good putt and not gone in and made the same score. I’m in no way, shape or form letting that dwell on the great round I had today.”
Besides his 11 birdies being the most in a single round at the tournament, he also set the record for biggest improvement from round to round by beating his Thursday score by 16 strokes.
Behind the leaders, J.J. Spaun was alone in third one stroke back after carding a 68 while world No. 2 Rory McIlroy (68), two-time Major champion Collin Morikawa (65) and Alex Smalley (67) were grouped at 135. REUTERS
