Justin Thomas Wins And Gets Gallery Member Thrown Out
Justin Thomas is playing great golf, but he’s merely the latest in a deep field to do so. Thomas continues the trend of a merry-go-round of top players taking turns as the best golfer in all the land.
Thomas won for the 7th time in the last two seasons. He leads a Who’s Who of Tour peers.
Thomas also owns 8 wins by the age of 24. Only Tiger Woods (24!!) and Jordan Spieth (11) have more. That’s fairly heady company. Plus, JT has now earned 7 victories in his last 31 events (22%).
Meanwhile, Justin was involved with a gallery member who was apparently riding him fairly hard (for a golfer that is). After a couple of snarky remarks, Thomas pointed to the offender and had him thrown out. Ryan Lavner files this report for GolfChannel.
Thomas said that some of the comments that fans made last week at Riviera were “completely unacceptable.”
While walking up to the 16th tee, tied for the lead, Thomas heard a fan yell in his direction: “I hope you hit it in the water!”
Thomas looked back at the spectator but didn’t say anything.
After Thomas ripped a long iron into the fairway, the same fan began shouting for the shot to get into the bunker.
“I was like, OK, I’ve had enough,” Thomas said afterward. “I just turned around and asked who it was, and he didn’t want to say anything, now that I had actually acknowledged him. So he got to leave a couple holes early.
“I don’t want to kick someone out just to kick them out. It’s just so inappropriate. We’re out here trying to win a tournament. … Just because you’re standing behind the ropes doesn’t mean that you can – I don’t care how much I dislike somebody, I’m never going to wish that kind of stuff upon them.
“I felt it was inappropriate, so he had to go home.”
On-course microphones picked up Thomas telling the fan, “Who said that? Was it you? Enjoy your day, you’re done.”
Compared to other sports, Thomas’ reaction seems thin-skinned. Yet each sport has its traditions and golf is probably the most reactive to insensitive remarks. Do you think Justin was sporting rabbit ears or dealt with the matter appropriately?
