WM PHOENIX OPEN

February 13, 2022

Justin Thomas

TPC Scottsdale

Quick Quotes

JUSTIN THOMAS: I've got a lot of things that are trending the right way and I'm really starting to feel good about my game. I just never got my run this whole week. That's just going to be the difference.

Q. You only had a couple bogeys the whole week. Was the putter just not --

JUSTIN THOMAS: I mean, pretty much the whole week I didn't make anything. I putted a lot better the last two days. I didn't feel like I putted that great the first couple days. I cleaned up nicely, made a lot of four-, five-, six-footers the first couple days and I just missed a couple that I really needed to make yesterday and today.

Playing the par-5s even par, you can't win this golf tournament and play them 1-under for the weekend. It sucks because if I play them 5- or 6-under like I should, pretty good chance I win the tournament.

Q. Still got a ways to go to decide a winner, but the run that Patrick is on, how do you describe the way he's playing?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, he's great playing. He's a good player. He does everything really well. He doesn't really have a weakness in his game. He hits it far, drives it really straight, putts the crap out of it. I mean, it's good success for really good golf.

Q. We're seeing 16 getting a little crazy again. When you look at the future of golf, the TOUR seems to be in such a great place in terms of quality of play and players. How do you thread that needle, recruiting mainstream fans and yet serving what golf should be about?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it's tough. This is obviously a one-off event, and it should be. Nobody can have the 16th hole like this tournament, and it should be that way. It should stay that way.

Yeah, the beer getting thrown on the green is more just inconvenient for pace of play's sake and obviously dangerous, people getting hit and whatnot. But yeah, the loudness, the yelling, that's a part of it, it's all fun and games. Some people like it, some don't, but if you don't like it you don't have to come here. I enjoy it. It's a cool opportunity. But yeah, the beer throwing gets a little dicey sometimes.

Q. You're not playing Honda, right?

JUSTIN THOMAS: No.

Q. The last few years you've obviously had success on that course. Has the last few years been just where it sits on the schedule?

JUSTIN THOMAS: It is. It's a lot. There's probably four or five tournaments I would love to play that are just not in a good part of the schedule. That's just the way that it is.

Obviously it can expose you, that kind of golf course, if you're not playing well, but if you're playing well I feel like it's one of the easier places to be in contention because you can just plot your way around and sprinkle in a couple birdies and don't make very many mistakes, and next thing you know, you're right there on the back nine on Sunday.

Unfortunately you've just got to take off sometimes, and if I played that, it just would be a lot of golf in a row, and I really don't need to be hating golf in the middle of February.