TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 7, 2020

Justin Thomas

East Lake Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. I know you guys talk about the first three rounds it's usually kind of business as normal, you're not looking at leaderboards, but given the situation today how much did you look at leaderboards?

JUSTIN THOMAS: I actually didn't look at them today. I was so far back I felt like I needed to kind of get in my own little world and make as many birdies as I can.

I didn't worry about DJ. First time I saw was on 12 and saw that he was 1-under. I was right there. I had a great chance today. Felt like my bogeys on the front were really from not bad shots, and I made enough birdies to at least give myself a chance on the back nine, which was all I could ask for being five back to start the day.

Q. Couple years ago when you won the FedExCup but didn't win the tournament you talked about being aggravated at not winning the tournament. Is this due in part because of the situation, you were spotting him strokes and you played well on Monday?

JUSTIN THOMAS: I mean, it sucks because I didn't win. I lost in '17 and I lost in 2020. They go under the same thing as a second in the column.

But yeah, that one was so much different because of feeling like I needed to birdie 18 to tie versus -- or win potentially, and then DJ being quite a bit ahead. You're obviously playing for a lot of money, but I'm here to try to win the tournament and came up just a little short.

Q. You said you didn't look at leaderboards. Did Bones talk to you at all --

JUSTIN THOMAS: No, I just played as hard as I could. I wanted to get to the back nine. If I didn't get off to a good start it didn't matter, but if I got off to a good enough start I felt like I needed to look to see if I needed to make any changes.

So I looked on 12 and then I looked again after 15 and saw I was three back, and knew I needed to birdie the last three to have a chance. Yeah, it wouldn't have been good enough, but felt like I gave it a pretty good run.

Q. Is Jimmy back on the bag for the U.S. Open?

JUSTIN THOMAS: He is, yeah.

Q. So he's feeling better?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah.

Q. Can you talk about Winged Foot.

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, Winged Foot is awesome. It's one of my favorite courses I feel like I've ever played. When I went and checked it out, it's right in front of you. It's not tricked up. You know, it's in our own hands.

You just need to go there and try to play well. You need to drive the ball well and have control of the ball to try and shoot a good score out there.

Q. Can you talk about the wrist?

JUSTIN THOMAS: It was weird. My drive on 18 yesterday, just it hurt a little bit, which is weird, because my wrist has been unbelievable since I hurt it last year. I mean, and obviously been playing quite a bit of golf here the last two months, so just a little bit of wear and tear.

But it was just a little sore this morning. Troy, my physio, wanted to tape it up and it was just annoying me when I was hitting balls, so I just took it off. The adrenaline got into it when I was playing there and I didn't even notice it.

Q. Normally you'd be able to exhale a little bit after this tournament in other years. Obviously that's not the case right now. In less than a week you're at Winged Foot. I wonder how you're approaching that, what you're going to do. Do you take a couple days off?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, absolutely. I always take a couple days off after a tournament anyway, but I'm excited. I'm really excited how I'm playing, how I feel about my game, how my body feels. I'm feeling like I'm starting to play some of my best golf of the year, and getting to a pretty important stretch, so hopefully we'll be able to continue it into next week and then October and November.

Q. Do you think DJ carries this over at all? He's been on a pretty good roll for a month.

JUSTIN THOMAS: The thing about DJ is you never know. I give him hats off. I don't know if he'll talk about it, but I played with him at the Memorial I think it was, and I've never seen him as lost, anywhere remotely close to that lost.

He was grinding his ass off. He was putting so bad and playing so bad. But he never gave up. He wasn't quitting. He was just trying to find it out there and he couldn't find it again the next week, and then next thing you know, what, two months later he's the FedExCup champion and running away.

I think that's all you need to know about golf right there.

Q. Well, he puts it aside better than anybody, right?

JUSTIN THOMAS: He's been out here for a while. He knows having a short memory is good out here.

Q. You're a big Alabama fan; golf has made it through so far and been playing for a while. College football is just starting to gear up. How are you feeling about the college football season coming up for Alabama and with everything that's going on in the world today?

JUSTIN THOMAS: I feel great. I mean, as long as everyone does their part I feel very good about it. I know Coach Saban is going to play football. Whether it's against other people in the SEC or play a high school team, he doesn't care. He's getting those boys ready and he'll be ready to play football.