Justin Thomas Has J.B. Holmes’ Back

I like Justin Thomas. A lot. He pounds the ball, has learned to win big events and speaks his mind. I even like that he defended the Tour’s latest snail poster boy J.B. Holmes for taking over 4 minutes to hit a shot Sunday on the closing hole at the Farmers Insurance Open. I don’t agree with Thomas’ stance, but if he truly believes what he says, then more power to him for coming out and supporting a peer.

GolfDigest.com’s Joel Beall has the details.

“I have J.B.’s back all day on that situation,” Justin Thomas told the media at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. “If you put me in 18 fairway, and I need an eagle to win the golf tournament or to have a chance to win the golf tournament, I mean, I knew the exact position he was in, and I would do the same thing.”

“If you put me in 18 fairway and I need an eagle to win the golf tournament or to have a chance to win the golf tournament, I mean I knew the exact position he was in, and I would do the same thing,” Thomas continued. “If I have a 5-wood in my hands—and he hits it pretty similar trajectory to me—that thing’s going to go high. And into the wind, he’s into about a 10- to 15-mph wind, that wind gusts at all, like it was, when he was waiting for the gusts to go down, that ball’s in the water. Three-wood, as long as he hits it, has no chance. You saw where [Alex] Noren hit it, and J.B.’s probably longer than Noren, so and then he’s got no chance.

“So he’s debating what to do, what to not do. I get it, 4 minutes, 10 seconds is a long time, but nobody behind him, last hole, you need a 3 to win the golf tournament, you need to take as long as you can.”

“It was a bummer. I hate it for him, how much he’s getting bashed and ridiculed,” Thomas said. “When you’re trying to win a golf tournament, this sport is very much about committing and being a 100 percent being all in on what you’re doing. I honestly applaud him for waiting and making the decision until he was ready, because he was just trying to win the tournament.”

Again, I wholeheartedly disagree with Thomas (terrible optics for a sport that’s rightfully bashed for slow play) but defend his passion to go public with his thoughts.