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TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 20, 2018

Justin Thomas

Atlanta, Georgia

Q. Talk about today, a slow start. Obviously you weren't planning for the bogey-bogey start, but you brought it back quite nicely.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I hung in there well. Like you said, it was about as bad of a start as I could have thought. Yeah, hit good putts on -- obviously my first putt was too hard, but then hit a good second putt on 1, and really hit a good par putt on 2, I just misread them. And it was a pretty pitiful effort for getting it on the green, so I wasn't really sure what I was going to get myself into today. So I was glad to hang in there and make some birdies on the back.

Q. Iron play was really good on the back. You had good chances at 16 and 17. All in all you've got to be really pleased.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, and 18 and 13. I felt like I could have shot 7- or 8-under on that back nine. I really had it going and had good control out there. I was hitting the fairways, which is what's most important. I mean, didn't hit a good drive there on 8, which is a bummer on a par-5 but still had a great look there. That's the thing about this place, the greens are so good, if you're under the hole or you leave them in the right spot, you can make some long-range putts.

Q. The right wrist, no problems?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it's fine. It just looks worse than it is. The hardest part was not being able to prepare much for this week.

Q. What kind of treatment are you getting on the wrist?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I mean, just when I do my kind of flush at the end of the day, deep tissue stuff, it's working on it, doing a little bit of laser and icing it when I can during the day. But it's just -- over the course of a long season and kind of -- I don't know what happened. Just have a lot of forearm tightness right now, and I think that's kind of where it's coming from. But yeah, I was happy, pleased to see that it felt good out there today. The hardest part are the bunker shots as weird as it is, just kind of getting the wrist cock and hitting down on it so hard, and I hit it in a couple bunkers today, but hopefully I'll keep it out of them.

Q. Did you consider not playing this week?
JUSTIN THOMAS: If it would have hurt at all, I wouldn't have played. Number one most important part is my future and my career. I don't want to do anything that's going to put me out for a while. But to me, second most important is Ryder Cup. I would rather not play this week and play the Ryder Cup and be fresh and make sure I'm going to get as many points for the team as possible. After practicing a little bit and being out here, I never thought about what's wrong. I thought that I may not be playing very well because of my preparation being able to hit as few balls as I have, but no, in terms of pain, it's not an issue.

Q. Are you happy with the way you came back after the first two holes?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, absolutely. I really played well on the back nine. I could have made a lot of birdies. I hit a good putts, hit some quality iron shots, and the hard part is right now, or at least going into today, I didn't know where the ball was going. If I was trying to set up to hit a shot, I didn't know if it was going to do it or I didn't really have a feel that was comfortable. And that's pretty difficult when you're standing over the ball at a place this demanding.

I was really, really pleased with how well I drove the ball and some of the iron shots I hit out there.

Q. Do you think the golf course is gettable even with quick and fast conditions? Are there birdies opportunities out there?
JUSTIN THOMAS: There's a lot. If you drive it well, you have a lot of wedges. I think I had somewhere between 140 and 150 seven times today, so I mean, that's between gap wedges and pitching wedges a lot, and if you're driving it well, you can go out and shoot 5- or 6-under. It is difficult because the greens are so tough, but if you have a lot of control, you know what you're doing.

Q. You just keep tape on your hand, is that all it is?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, this just keeps it a little more sturdy.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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