TROON, Scotland – A year ago, Justin Thomas made a career-worst score of nine on his final hole of his opening round of the British Open at Royal Liverpool en route to another disappointing missed cut in a major. He looked lost in his game. One year later, Thomas posted 3-under 68 at Royal Troon on Thursday to grab the early lead at the 152nd Open. Asked to describe the difference in his game from a year ago, he said, “I would guess about 15 strokes better, 13 strokes? What did I shoot?”
He shot 82 a year ago so Thomas should’ve split the difference because the answer is 14 strokes.
“I couldn’t even tell you what I was thinking or how it was then,” Thomas said. “I’m just worried about how I am now, and I’m very pleased with my game and know things are continuing to work in the right direction. I’ve just got to keep trying to play well.”
Thomas, a 15-time winner on the PGA Tour and two-time major winner, has slipped to No. 29 in the world. He ranks 17th in the FedEx Cup with five top-10 finishes this season, so in comparison to last year, his game has shown signs of regaining the form that made him a world No. 1. But he remains winless since the 2022 PGA Championship, and the majors mostly have been a disaster this season. He finished T-8 at the PGA Championship in his native Kentucky but missed the cut at both the Masters and U.S. Open, continuing a distressing trend. He’s missed more than half of his last nine starts in majors.
Birdie-birdie finish to take the early lead.@JustinThomas34 is out front @TheOpen! pic.twitter.com/1Ij5gkfDIQ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 18, 2024
On a rainy, battleship-gray day in the first round, Thomas carded seven birdies, including the final two holes, despite tricky wind conditions that flipped in the opposite direction than the pros had faced in practice rounds or even back in 2016, the last time this championship was contested here.
“That was wild,” said Thomas, who still managed to birdie two of the first four holes. “ 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, just trying to make the best out of the conditions.”
Thomas, who made his Open Championship debut at Troon in 2016 and began with a 67 that year to sit T-4 through 18 holes before falling to T-53, has struggled at this major more than any other, with nary a top-10 and a T-11 in 2019 as his best showing in seven previous appearances. Yet, Thomas declared himself a fan of links golf.
“I have yet to play a links course that I dislike or I think is bad,” Thomas said. “If I had to choose one style of golf or probably even one golf course the rest of my life to play, it would be a links course.”
At the Genesis Scottish Open a week ago, Thomas raced out of the gate with a flurry of birdies to shoot 62 and assume the first-round lead. Despite taking six more shots this week, Thomas ranked his play as better at Troon.
“I felt like I had great control off the tee,” he said, “just in the sense of, I would say, the quality of play.”
Last week, Thomas tumbled down the leaderboard and finished T-62, saying he didn’t get anything out of his rounds.
“It wasn’t bad enough to shoot over par both days,” he said.
Will this week be any different? Can Thomas piece together more than one good round in a row – preferably four of them – and be a serious contender at the 152nd Open? To hear Thomas tell it, his game is trending in the right direction and as the pros like to say, he said he feels close.
“I’m just doing, I would say, everything better,” he said.
On Thursday, he was 14 strokes better than a year ago and that alone is reason for optimism.