By Dan Rapaport
ORLANDO —This is Charlie Woods’ favourite week of the year. He’s the reason, it should be noted, that his dad is here. Tiger Woods cannot walk even a perfectly flat golf course right now. Tour-level competition is miles away. But he is here, wincing and carting and grimacing because Charlie wants to be here.

The pair shot 10-under 62 on Saturday, the same score as their close family pals and playing partners, Justin and Mike Thomas. Stewart Cink and his son, Reagan, took the lead by shooting 59. Charlie drove the ball on a string and continues to thoroughly impress with his wedge distance control. With Tiger, you wouldn’t notice anything odd from 160 yards and in. The ball flight with the short irons is the same, his wedges look terrific, and Ol’ Faithful Scotty’s cooperating. “I can still putt,” he said with a wry smile, “that hasn’t left me.”

On the other hand, any shot that requires physical exertion is a bit dicier. Wood struggled to find the bottom with his driver, often clipping the grass and mishitting it. There were, however, hugely encouraging signs: TrackMan clocked one of Woods’ drives at 171 mph ball speed, which is around tour average, and he hit a soaring, 250-yard 3-wood into the par-4 14th. JT, for what it’s worth, loved what he saw.

“I was so impressed by the speed that he had and the shots he was hitting,” Thomas said. “At least from my perspective, it looked like a lot of the moves and everything were there. It just was, if anything, a little short. … Naturally you would think he’s not going to hit it as far, but, man, like that 4-iron he hit into three today, that was just ridiculous. I looked at him and as soon as he sat in the cart; he just kind of looked at me and smiles, and I knew exactly that that’s the kind of shots that he hits when he’s healthy.”

Woods can hit the shots, but he cannot walk the walk. Not yet. At present, he can’t walk even a flat golf course for nine holes, let alone a hilly one, for four straight days, while having to hit shots out of tour-thick rough. He hasn’t had to do that once this week given the shamble format. And so, as he’s reminded us ad nausem, tournament competition is miles away.

We learned all that on Friday, though. Last year’s PNC provided the first look at Charlie. This year’s pro-am provided the first look at post-accident Tiger. Saturday … was just a father out there with his son.

“Charlie and I had a blast playing together again, playing with the Thomas family; again, we’re extremely close so it was a bunch of fun there, was a lot of needling going on the entire day,” Tiger said. “We’re pulling pranks on each other and giving each other some under-the-breath remarks that I’m glad they didn’t capture. We had a great time. It was just a blast, and we had a blast last year on the first year it was the same. We had so much fun out there.”

The highlight of the day came away from the cameras, outside competition. After putting out on the 12th, the Woodses and Thomases were told about the traffic jam on the 13th tee. So they stuck around for an impromptu putting competition, just like you did with your pop as the sun set way back when. All four players dropped balls 60 feet from the hole. The greatest player of his generation, if not all time, went first. Two feet. Next, his son. Bucket. JT next. Bucket. Mike Thomas. Bucket.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Woods said after the round. “I don’t think any one of us has, right? Three 60-footers going down.”

The internet loved Charlie’s celebration; he raised his putter as it tracked toward the hole, spun around and did a little Johnny Manziel money gesture at his pop. It quickly flooded the web because everything Team Woods does floods the web. Tiger so famously kept his emotions and his private life hidden; now his deep adoration for his son is on display. Fans can’t get enough. Neither can fellow tour pros.

Ian Poulter, who lives about a 20-minute drive away at Lake Nona, made the trip to the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club with his younger son, Joshua. (His older boy, Luke, will be a freshman on Florida’s golf team next fall.) Ian looks up to Tiger. Joshua looks up to Charlie.

“Respect is Respect,” Poulter wrote on Twitter, “and so wonderful to see the relationship between Tiger and Charlie growing. I relate and want Joshua to be as inspired to continue to grow. As parents it’s all we want.”

The post Tiger Woods’ son again having the time of his life competing with his dad appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
Tiger Woods has done his best to lower expectations for his return to competition at this week’s PNC Championship, but apparently, Mike Thomas wasn’t looped in on that PR strategy.

The PGA of America pro and father of 14-time PGA Tour winner Justin Thomas spoke at a pre-tournament press conference with his son on Thursday as the father and son prepare to defend their team title. And he gave a glowing report of Tiger’s golf game.

First, he volunteered that he’d played with the 15-time major champ twice last week. Then, when asked how he looked, here was his response:

“Good. Yeah, good,” said Thomas, who won the team event with Justin last year. “It’s crazy how good he’s hitting it and far he’s hitting for what he’s been through.”

Well, that sounds pretty promising, huh?

But while Mike may have let the (big) cat out of the bag, golf fans will get to see Tiger in action in less than 24 hours. Although the 36-hole scramble event, in which Woods will team with his 12-year-old son Charlie, doesn’t begin until Saturday, Tiger is scheduled to play in Friday’s pro-am, of which Golf Channel will air two hours of coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Airing part of a pro-am, especially one for a December exhibition, is pretty unusual. But Woods’ extraordinary return to competition just 10 months after a car crash nearly caused him to lose a leg, has many golf fans eager to see him play again. No matter what the state of his game is these days.

“I mean, we all know him well enough to know that he’s never going to admit to be close to being where he’d like to be,” Mike Thomas said. “I mean, more importantly, where he normally would be compared to now, I think more importantly is his shot, that whatever he has right now is, I mean, he’s still—he’s got some speed. He’s got some length. Hits a lot of really, really flush shots. I mean, I was surprised.”

And now, we’ll get to judge for ourselves over the next three days. Happy viewing, everyone.

The post Tiger Woods’ golf game gets glowing review from Mike Thomas: ‘It’s crazy how good he’s hitting it’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
The Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions had another diamond added to the weekend when Jasmine Suwannapura’s boyfriend, Mike Thomas, surprised her as she came off the 18th green by getting down on one knee and proposing. Suwannapura, who had just shot 68 during her second round, said yes.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Jasmine Suwannapura (@thidapa_jts)

Suwannapura, 28, who finished second in the 2020 AIG Women’s British Open, said the couple has been together for two years and looked at rings in December. She picked out the one she wanted. Obviously, she knew the proposal would be coming at some point, but she just didn’t know when.

“We were looking at the ring and finally he asked. I’m like, Finally,” Suwannapura said, laughing.

They met online, and for the first month and a half that they were talking online, Suwannapura had Thomas believing she was an event coordinator who traveled the world. She kept her last name off of her online dating profile to keep her real identity private until she met someone she really liked.

Finally, she broke it to him. “I say, ‘Hey, I got something to tell you.’ I said, ‘Here is my Instagram. Check it out.’ ” He was, like, looking around and saying, wait a minute, you’re a golfer. So he was surprised about it,” Suwannapura said.

Though Thomas wasn’t an avid golfer when they met, he’s played more since their relationship started. Suwannapura says he’s getting better and has a pretty good short game.

With the current situation with COVID-19, Suwannapura says they’re not in a rush to plan a wedding. She’s busy at the moment, anyway. After a third-round 69, she’s in 16th at the Tournament of Champions.

She didn’t play Saturday’s round with the ring on.

“Don’t want to lose it,” she explained.

The post LPGA Tour pro surprised with proposal on the 18th green at Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
ORLANDO — They say every golf tournament has one winner and a whole bunch of losers. Whoever said that has clearly never watched Tiger Woods play golf with his son.

“I don’t think words can describe it,” Woods said. “The fact that we were able to have this experience together, Charlie and I. It’s memories for a lifetime.”

On Sunday, Team Woods shot a second-straight 62 to finish the PNC Championship at 20 under, seventh place overall, five shots behind their buddies, Justin and Mike Thomas, who closed with 57 for a one-shot victory. Had the Woodses holed a few more putts on their front nine, perhaps they could have made a run for the title. They made too many pars, and pars simply don’t cut it in a scramble format.

But who cares? This week was never about a trophy. Tiger has plenty of those; he only has one son. This was about making sure Charlie had the time of his life playing alongside his dad. The actual golf—that part was extra.

Extra, and spectacular. The younger Woods impressed throughout the week, from his first striped tee shot in Thursday’s pro-am round to the one on the 18th tee on Sunday. He made the first eagle of his life on Saturday, a moment he’ll never forget. A day later, after pouring in a 10-footer, he unleashed a fist pump straight out of pop’s playbook. A moment we’ll never forget

“[He] made a good putt there,” Tiger said. “His tee shot, my ball hit the flag and it was just an uphill putt. Poured it right in the middle.”

?Charlie Woods fist pump ?

The low uppercut. A Woods special. pic.twitter.com/KhJPSC1Sw4

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 20, 2020

A day after setting the Internet on fire with a front-nine 28, Team Woods got off to a slow start Sunday playing alongside David Duval and his son, Brady. Woods and his old rival enjoyed catching up some two decades after they wrestled each other at the summit of the sport.

“We played the World Cup down in Argentina, in Japan. Our teamwork. Playing with each other in the Ryder Cup, all our experiences battling each other for number one in the world,” Tiger recalled. “We were both talking about it—we miss this. To be able to do it together again, take it all in. We haven’t been able to perform like this together in jeez, what, 20 years?”

Charlie bear-hugged his dad on the 18th green on Sunday then could not wipe the smile off his face as he walked away from the scorer’s tent, gushing about the Thomases’ round and smiling so brightly you couldn’t help but join him. After congratulating Justin Thomas on his victory, the first thing Charlie told him: “Dad and I hit it to 23 feet on 8 … and three-putted!” He is, after all, his father’s son.

Mike Ehrmann
Tiger Woods and his son Charlie hug on the 18th green at the conclusion of play on Sunday.

That was the lone bogey of a day that included two eagles, both the product of Charlie’s drives and Tiger’s approaches. For the second straight day, there were a number of holes where Charlie played first, pumped his tee shot down the middle of the fairway, picked up his tee before the ball landed, turned and gave Tiger the “thumbs up,” and Tiger didn’t bother hitting. Dad was proud as hell, every time. Even after the bad shots, which were sparse. Charlie never seemed to notice any of the 200-or-so people watching his every move, nor the bulky TV cameras that were never far from his little face. Not bad for a sixth-grader.

“Charlie did great,” Tiger said. “It’s just like being at home at Medalist. Get into your own world. Hit the shot you see and execute.”

Notice the way he phrased that: Charlie did great. Not “we did great.” Tiger lets his son breathe on the golf course, lets him work his way around. Of course, Tiger is there to answer any and all inquiries, but they have to originate from Charlie. Tiger simply will not push him.

Ask Tiger any question about his son’s development as a golfer and you’ll get basically the same answer: It’s about making sure he enjoys it. That was the theme of this week. All the philosophical debates over how this event was covered, all the side-by-side swing comparisons—none of that stuff matters to Team Woods. Not this week, and not ever. They’re too busy enjoying themselves.

Mike Ehrmann
For Tiger, the week was a success because it was all about having fun with his son.

“Golf is fun,” Tiger said, and you could tell he meant it. Sounds simple enough, but we’re not sure he’d have said the same thing 15 years ago. Or, at least, whether he’d have meant it.

“That’s why we play. It’s because of enjoyment. And doing it together.”

The post Tiger and Charlie Woods wrap up a special week with ‘memories for a lifetime’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
For every tournament his son has won as a competitive golfer since grade school, Mike Thomas has a golf ball from the event on display back at Harmony Landing Country Club in Goshen, Ky., where he’s worked since 1990 as the head professional. The question after Sunday’s victory at the PNC Championship: Does Mike put a second ball up to commemorate his part in the latest victory?

The father-and-son combo walked away with the title at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, thanks to a closing 15-under 57 in the two-person two-day scramble event. Their 25-under 119 total was one better than Vijay and Qass Singh.

Tiger and Charlie Woods were the most well-known first-time duo competing in the event (they’d finish in seventh place, five shots off the pace), but the Thomases became the fifth pair to win in their debut in the tournament and the first since Angel Cabrera and his son won in 2017.

The other bit of history Justin and Mike set? This was the first time in the event’s 23-year history where the father on the winning team was playing as the partner.

Team Thomas birdied their first seven holes on Sunday to jump to the lead. Hoping to post a number that would hold as other teams came in, Mike Thomas rolled in a five-footer for birdie on the 18th hole that would prove to be the clincher, earning them a $200,000 payday in the process.

Mike Ehrmann
Mike Thomas putts on the 15th hole with his son, Justin, watching during the final round of the PNC Championship.

“A part of you didn’t care who won,” said Justin, whose mother, Jani, also got in on the action, caddying for Mike. “We were here as father and son to enjoy a special moment.”

That said, Justin Thomas is a competitive sort, with 13 PGA Tour wins at just age 27. And that golf ball rack back in Kentucky has more than a hundred balls in it. Something, however, makes you believe the golf ball from Sunday will have a special place back in the pro shop.

The post Justin and Mike Thomas made an unusual bit of history en route to winning the PNC Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
ORLANDO — For once, Tiger Woods wasn’t the main attraction on a driving range. That honour went to a sweet-swinging 11-year-old who shares his last name.

All eyes at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, and on the golf interwebs, were fixed Thursday on Charlie Woods. He teed it up for a full 18 alongside his 15-time major winning father in the pro-am for this weekend’s PNC Championship, where Team Woods will make its debut in the event formerly known as the Father-Son Challenge.

The first thing you notice is the size difference. Charlie comes up to his dad’s belly button, a reminder that while he’s becoming a household name, the pre-teen remains a half-decade away from a driver’s license. The next thing that jumps out are the uncanny similarities—in their swings, yes, but more so in their mannerisms. The way they twirl their club after a striped drive. The way they recoil after going after one extra hard. The way they let their right arm dangle after an approach shot. Even the way they toss golf balls to each other, flicking the wrist as if shooting a three-pointer.

One thing is clear: Charlie has been watching his dad as closely as the rest of us.

“It’s so much fun for me to see him enjoying the game,” Woods said. He uses the word enjoy rather frequently when talking about his son’s golfing journey. Fun first, everything else a very distant second. “That’s the whole idea. Just enjoying it, hitting shots, creating those shots. Some of the shots he hit on the front nine, the back nine, it’s just so cool for me to see him enjoying the sport.”

The younger Woods has drawn attention this year for his strong play in junior tournaments over the summer, having won multiple nine-hole events in Florida with under-par scores. You needed to see only one swing on the range to understand why—his move is, simply put, breathtakingly good. Athletic and free, natural and powerful. He striped his TaylorMade driver down the centre of the first fairway, seemingly impervious to the 30-person crowd watching his every move. Such is life for Tiger Woods’ only son.

Twitter/PGA Tour Charlie and Tiger Woods practice their putting on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s PNC Championship.

“He’s been playing junior golf tournaments, and he’s been out in front, having people video him,” Tiger said. “This is a different world that we live in now. Everyone has a phone, everyone has an opportunity to video. He’s been out there. He’s enjoying it, and that’s the whole idea.”

Enjoying it, but also laser-focused. The competitive gene runs strong in the Woods clan, and Charlie did not seem to be in exhibition mode. He closely studied his yardage book on each tee. He discussed start lines and wind directions with his pop. He plotted his way around on a blustery morning, reaching the par-5 fifth hole in two (from a forward tee) and sticking his approach on the par-4 11th to kick-in range. And he even needled his father, imploring him to take aggressive lines and “fly it over the trees, dad!”

Team Woods will play another pro-am practice round on Friday before beginning the two-day scramble event alongside Justin Thomas and his dad, Mike, at 11:48 a.m. local time Saturday. There will be a third father-son duo in the group: Tiger’s caddie Joe LaCava and his son, Joe LaCava Jr., who is on Charlie’s bag this week.

Surely there will be more than a little trash talk in that group. Woods and Thomas have grown close over the years, and Charlie has hung around JT quite a bit back home in Southeastern Florida.

“He likes to needle me a little bit,” Thomas said with a smile, “I was joking with [Golf Channel’s Steve Burkowski], I have to remind myself that he’s 11-year-old sometimes and I need to watch what I say.

“They’re very similar. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be like your dad if your dad is Tiger Woods?”

The post Tiger Woods’ focus playing with son Charlie at the PNC Championship is simple: have fun appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Jordan Fuller
When Justin Thomas hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy for winning the 2017 PGA Championship into the humid North Carolina air, his father, Mike, and grandfather, Paul, stood alongside marvelling at the accomplishment. Over the past few decades, both Mike and Paul had dreamed of a moment that Justin was enjoying because golf was the lifeline of the Thomas family.

But why was Justin the best of the three Thomas golfers? All three had varying degrees of success in their golfing careers, but Mike and Paul couldn’t even touch the level of professional accolades that Justin had obtained with his major victory.

Did he have more talent than his father and grandfather? It was apparent to see that the three men all shared something that made them great at golf but was that genetic? Or something more?

Does genealogy make the athlete or do they just set the stage?

How the Thomas Family created Justin
The Thomas family love of golf began in the late 1940s when Paul discovered golf in his teens. Working at clubs as an assistant professional, Paul became a highly accomplished golfer after moving back to Cincinnati. He played in a U.S. Open and two PGA Championships in the 1960s alongside golfing legends Ben Hogan and Sam Snead.

As Paul became older, his golfing skills maintained their high level. He played occasionally on the senior tour and even placed in the top 15 in the 1983 U.S. Senior Open. Paul, now 86 years old, has shot his age every year since he turned 64, a staggering accomplishment.

When Mike Thomas was born, Paul wasn’t easy on his son when it came to golf. “My dad will be the first to tell you that he was pretty hard on me,” Mike told pgatour.com. “He had fun, but when it came to competition he was hard on himself. He was hard on himself, so he was hard on me.”

Mike’s amateur career wasn’t as spectacular as Paul’s or, later on, Justin’s but he competed in the U.S. Amateur Open and became the head pro at Harmony Landing in 1990. It was there, where Justin, born three years later, began his golfing journey.

Justin became a mainstay at his father’s golf course, learning to say “bag of balls” at the age of two. Mike didn’t have to give Justin a passion for the game. At Harmony Landing, everyone stayed out of Justin’s way as he spent hours hitting thousands of golf balls on the range and playing hundreds of rounds each year on the course.

Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR
Justin Thomas with family members (L-R) grandfather Paul, grandmother Phyllis, mother Jani and father Mike following his victory at the 2018 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.

As Justin grew, Paul engaged his grandson’s mind with old golfing tales while Mike harnessed and channelled his son’s immense talent. “Mike gave (Justin) a … love of playing. He didn’t make him a lover of golf swings,” Jay Seawell, the head coach at Alabama told pgatour.com. “Mike did a great job of making Justin love Nos. 1-18. He was always on the golf course, playing with his dad. I think the more you play, the more you value the score.”

The foundation of Justin’s talent was the result of Paul’s raw skill and Mike’s patience and direction. So was talent given to Justin at birth through the genetic makeup of his father and grandfather? To find the answer, we need to dive a little deeper into the relationship between genes and fostering talent.

What about the genealogy of the Thomas family on Justin’s success?
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, “Studies focused on similarities and differences in athletic performance within families, including between twins, suggest that genetic factors underlie 30 to 80 percent of the differences among individuals in traits related to athletic performance.”

The 30-to-80 percent theory certainly offers a wide range of influence on passing genetic talent to descending family members. Using the example of the Thomas family, it was widely known that Paul, the oldest of the three golfers, had a large amount of success throughout his golfing life. The same could not be said for Mike, Paul’s son, but that doesn’t mean that Mike was a poor golfer. His path just moved in another direction than his father’s and his successes were far more muted.

When wondering if genealogy matters in golf, the answer is yes but with a few caveats. Justin is certainly the most successful golfer of the three Thomas family members thus far. With his father Mike running a golf club, Justin had unlimited access to golf facilities. He could play round after round and hit range ball after range ball without worrying about paying for anything he used.

The time that Thomas spent honing his skills, especially early in his childhood when most kids are just enjoying being a kid, allowed him to build a skill set that carried him through his teenage years and onto the PGA Tour. Because money in the Thomas family was not a huge priority, the youngest Thomas could get his hands on the best equipment.

So it is easy to believe that Paul and Mike set the stage of Justin’s success through their genetic hand-me-downs, but for Justin to reach the world’s highest golfing stage, you would also need to acknowledge that the privileges in his life allowed Justin to take solely focus on reaching his potential.

Raising the Trophy
Justin Thomas has flourished since his 2017 PGA title victory. He’s won three times on the PGA Tour in the last 12 months, finished top six at the 2018 PGA Championship and qualified for the 2018 Ryder Cup team.

At the Ryder Cup, Thomas teamed with Jordan Spieth and helped win four out of five matches against Team Europe, including a singles match victory over Rory McIlroy.

His genealogy coupled with the privileges of his childhood allowed him to work incredibly hard and achieved his dream of becoming a professional golfer.

“After (Justin) showed that he was going to make it, I told him, ‘Only you can screw this thing up. It’s up to you to make something out of yourself,’” His grandfather Paul said. “And he sure did.” –  Jordan Fuller is Editor-in-Chief of Golf Influence

The post Do genes matter In golf? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But here are a few other things you need to know about the 24-year-old rising star, and the favourite for the 2017 PGA Tour Player of the Year:

Getty Images

Justin Thomas has been dreaming of making it on the PGA Tour since attending, at age 7, Tiger Woods’ win in the 2000 PGA at Valhalla.

JT has a VHS tape of the tournament, which he estimates he’s watched 50 times, motivating the Louisville native to put in the work to one day make it to the same stage.

Add Justin’s win at the PGA Championship to the long line of champions with strong PGA of America ties.

Justin grew up in Kentucky, playing a lot of golf with his father, Mike, being the club pro at Harmony Landing outside Louisville. And Justin’s grandpa, Paul, was also a club pro, serving in Zanesville, Ohio. Paul was a good enough player to play in the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont.

The 2017 PGA Championship winner would spend most days in the summer picking the range and hitting shots as his father worked.

At the end of the day, he and his dad would play for dollars as a kid after he was done picking the range, and it got competitive: “We would play for a dollar, and it was pretty heated out there. And I’m a pretty sore loser, so I did not handle it well when I lost and had to give up a dollar,” he said.

Sam Greenwood

Though he hasn’t been on a Ryder Cup team yet, Justin Thomas celebrated the 2008 victory at Valhalla with some VIP access.

One of Thomas’ favourite memories is high-fiving Phil Mickelson behind the 17th green when J.B. Holmes clinched the winning point for the U.S. team at Valhalla. With his father being on the PGA of America board that week, Thomas got to hang out with all the players that week.

Getty Images

Thomas’ win at Quail Hollow might’ve clinched the 2017 Player of the Year title.

This season was already stellar — with three PGA Tour victories, including a 59 in his win at the Sony Open, and a (then) record-tying 63 at the U.S. Open at Erin Hills. The PGA Championship victory gives him the most wins out of all major winners this year.

Photo by Walter Iooss Jr.

At 145 pounds (66kg), Justin Thomas is one of the biggest hitters on tour, pound for pound.

It’s actually insane how far JT hits it, given his size. Thomas ranked first in driving distance at Quail Hollow (328 yards off the tee) and ranks seventh on the PGA Tour this year (310 yards, 10 yards more than the tour average).

He had one of the most impressive collegiate resumes in recent memory.

As a freshman at Alabama, Thomas won the Haskins Award as the nation’s top golfer in 2012. He turned pro after his sophomore year, in which the Crimson Tide won the 2013 NCAA Championship and earned his PGA Tour card after a strong 2014 on the Web.com Tour.

Thomas is roommates with fellow Alabama golfer and PGA Tour player Bud Cauley in Jupiter, Fla.

Their prize possession is a custom, crimson-colored pool table with a Bama logo. Along with so many other tour pros, Thomas and Cauley reside and practice in Jupiter, where they’re both members of Medalist G.C. and The Bear’s Club.

You may or may not have heard, but Justin is buddies with Jordan Spieth.

Since they competed at the Evian Junior Masters in France when they were 14 and 13 (above), they’ve been buddies. Thomas told Golf Digest in 2014: “I don’t think him and I really sit back and reflect on what we’ve accomplished too much, but I probably do more than Jordan does,” Thomas said. “And it’s pretty cool. It’s crazy to think where our careers are gonna end up and how long we’ll be competing on the same level.”

RELATED: My Shot: Justin Thomas goes deep on Alabama football, Nick Saban’s chipping, and putting games with Jordan Spieth

The Spring Break boys now have four major wins with Thomas’ win.

And victories in the final two majors of the year, with Spieth winning his third at The Open, and Thomas taking home the title at Quail Hollow. Spieth’s no longer the only #SB2K16/17 bro with a major win.

When you realize Christmas is only 2 days away…

A post shared by Justin Thomas (@justinthomas34) on Dec 23, 2016 at 8:12am PST

Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler made back-to-back holes-in-one at the 2016 Masters Par-3 Contest.

Paired with Spieth, the trio shared a moment they’ll never forget.

Thomas made sure his girlfriend, Jillian Wisniewski, was at Quail Hollow to see his first major win.

Though we usually don’t get too much inside info about his girl on social media, we found out Thomas didn’t want Jillian to miss his big win: “My girlfriend was supposed to fly out [of North Carolina] at about 7:00 and I was like, ‘You need to change your flight to later, because I don’t know, I just feel like I don’t want you to miss this, I feel like I’m going to get it done,” he said after.

@vokeywedges hooked me up with a few of my favorite (clean) rap lines for my fresh set.. Lovin em! Have to thank @wosellers for some help too

A post shared by Justin Thomas (@justinthomas34) on Feb 24, 2015 at 8:47am PST

You can always find cool stampings on Thomas’ wedges.

Usually, Thomas’ wedges are stamped with “RADAR,” describing his spot-on wedge play. But as seen above, he’ll mix in the occasional hip-hop lyric, such as these from 2015, with Lil’ Wayne, Rick Ross and Drake songs.

The family is very tight-knit: Justin’s mom regularly travels with him on tour—even hanging with him and his friends and going out to dinner with them.

During Thomas’ rookie season, his mom, Jani, would regularly go out to dinner with Thomas’ friends at night. And if you’re at a tour event in which Thomas is playing, you can expect to see her around the grounds each week.

Stuart Franklin

–His father, Mike, has a frame of the golf balls from special moments in Justin’s career.

Moments from this year include Thomas’ record-tying 63 in the third round at Erin Hills, and the 59 at the Sony Open. We’re quite confident at least one ball from Quail Hollow (above) will make it to the display.

The post 15 Things You Need To Know About Justin Thomas appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall

The PGA of America is fond of saying, “Behind every good player is a club pro.” The same can be said for men and fathers. In the case of Justin Thomas, they are one and the same.

Justin’s father, Mike, has been the head professional at Harmony Landing outside Louisville for almost three decades. His grandpa, Paul, was also a club pro, serving in Zanesville, Ohio. The PGA is in Thomas’ blood, making his victory at Quail Hollow poetically apropos.

“I can’t put it into words,” Thomas said after his round. “It is (terrific), and to have dad here, and let alone a PGA, but to have him here…it’s great. It really is.”

Thomas is far from the first son of a PGA professional to win the Wanamaker; he’s actually the eighth player to do so. Conversely, Thomas’ family bond with the game has always been at the forefront of his story.

When his father was busy giving lessons or tending the shop, Justin would be on the course or practice area. “My first words as a baby supposedly were ‘bag of balls,’ about my wanting to go to the range at Harmony Landing,” Thomas once told Golf Digest.

Mike also served as a starter for PGA Championships, and brought Justin to the event. Sometimes, as Justin pointed out, to the chagrin of other members.

“They were probably annoyed with me running through dining rooms,” Thomas said during the trophy ceremony.

His father remains a vital part of his team, his go-to teacher for his swing. Moreover, as he told Golf Digest’s Guy Yocom, his grandfather’s influence still rings true to the fledgling star.

“He has a saying,” Thomas told Yocom in 2016. “’Some days it’s chickens, and some days it’s feathers.’ All it means is, no matter how good you get, you can’t be at your best all the time. The nature of the game is that you’ll run hot and cold, and the ball will take funny bounces. I try to remember that, but it’s tough for me. I don’t like bad golf.”

Besides their positions as club pros, both Mike and Paul were players in their own right. Mike competed collegiately at Morehead State, and spent time on the mini-tours. Paul was in the field in the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont.

Perhaps the Thomas family prowess is best explained through this tale on Harmony Landing’s 16th hole, a 144-yard par 3.

“For years it was the only hole I could reach in regulation,” Thomas told Golf Digest. “When I was 6, I made a hole-in-one there, hitting my cut-down driver. My dad had made an ace there, and so had my grandpa. Three generations scoring aces on the same hole. How many families can say that?”

Very few, and further proof that, at its core, golf is a game about fathers and sons. A sentiment on full display in Charlotte.

The post PGA Championship 2017: Justin Thomas wins one for the family appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.