Justin Thomas acknowledges the crowd after finishing his first round at The 152nd Open. | Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
Similar to last week at the Scottish Open, Justin Thomas has grabbed the early lead at Royal Troon.
Justin Thomas has the early lead again.
Last Thursday, Thomas waltzed around The Renaissance Club to card an 8-under 62 and soar to the top of the Genesis Scottish Open leaderboard. He held the solo lead after day one, making eight birdies to zero bogies.
But he wound up tying for 62nd, as he completely faded over the weekend. He could not replicate that early tournament success, as seemingly every club in his bag abandoned him from Friday on. Thomas shot 72-71-71 to finish at 4-under for the tournament.
Now, one week later, Thomas finds himself back on top, at least early on at The Open. He finished birdie-birdie to shoot a 3-under 68, the lowest score of the morning wave, to grab the early lead at Royal Troon.
“I felt like I had great control of the ball. I hit a lot of fairways, which is key to any major, but definitely in an open, being able to control the ball coming into the greens,” Thomas said.
“A little bit of a hiccup in the beginning of the back nine, but stayed patient and kept plugging.”
Thomas pulled his drive into a gorse bush on the challenging par-4 12th, which led to a double bogey. At that point, he sat at 4-under par after making five birdies over his first 10 holes. But that double dropped him back to 2-under, and another bogey on 13 followed after he missed the fairway again.
That said, everyone during the morning wave seemed to have a bump in the road like Thomas did on the 12th and 13th holes.
The wind blew out of the south—a rarity at Troon—meaning the players faced the wind on Troon’s benign opening stretch of holes. That also meant the more challenging back-nine played downwind. It certainly stumped the field, as only a handful of players are under-par towards the end of the morning wave.
“It just was tricky because it was pretty solid. I’d say [it blew] 15 to 20 [miles per hour],” Thomas said.
Photo by Andy Buchanan/Getty Images
Justin Thomas on the 13th hole.
“I just had not played that front nine into the wind before, and that was wild. Hitting some clubs — I remember trying to drive 1 and 3 in 2016, and I hit 7-iron into 1 today, and I hit a 3-wood up there on 3 to have a wedge in. But it just was very, very different. But it just was all very typical of an Open, trying to make the best out of the conditions that you have.”
The Open prides itself on its unpredictability—something Thomas struggled mightily with last year at Royal Liverpool. He shot a 10-over 82 to begin The Open—14 strokes worse than the score he posted on Thursday.
What a difference a year makes, but Thomas is not dwelling on his past struggles.
“I couldn’t even tell you what I was thinking or how it was then. I’m just worried about how I am now,” Thomas said.
“I’m very pleased with my game and know things continue to work in the right direction. I’ve just got to keep trying to play well.”
After folding last week in North Berwick, Thomas hopes to avoid making a similar mistake at Troon this time around. He will have to keep finding fairways, but will also need some luck to go his way. You need more luck to win The Open than any other major, as so many uncontrollables—Mother Nature, undulations, and lies in the bunkers—play a large part in a player’s championship. Thomas felt he got some lousy breaks at The Reinassance Club last week while hitting quality shots over the weekend. But he did not come close to replicating that first-round 62.
Regardless, Thomas said that he believes he played better this time, given the conditions and the pedigree of The Open, even though he needed six more strokes this Thursday. At any rate, the question is, can Thomas keep it going at Royal Troon?
Or will he fade into the abyss?
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
