Two-time Major winner Justin Thomas had a tournament to forget at The Players Championship, where rounds of 71 and 74 meant he became one of several big names to miss the cut.
While the 2021 champion is left to reflect on what might have been, LIV Golf team Smash GC aren’t prepared to let him forget comments he made before the tournament, which alluded to remarks made by one of its line-up, Talor Gooch, in February.
Gooch had suggested that if Rory McIlroy wins The Masters this year, it could have an asterisk because some LIV golfers who would likely have qualified if they were awarded world ranking points.
Before the TPC Sawgrass event, Thomas was asked how he felt about The Players Championship no longer being able to be billed as the best field in golf because of the absence of LIV golfers.
He defended the strength of the field, replying: “It's still been the best field in golf for many previous years. You could always make an argument that there's other tournaments that are or are not.”
He then went on to reference Gooch’s controversial comment, saying: “I'm not going to have an asterisk next to my name for winning this because the field wasn't too good.”
In the wake of Thomas’ early exit from the event, the official Smash GC X account responded to a message repeating the quote in simple yet brutal fashion – a scissors icon.
*✂️ https://t.co/DflQb06HGCMarch 16, 2024
A high-profile dig at Thomas' failure to make the cut is probably the last thing he needs after a performance that began well enough, with a one-under on Thursday, before his 74 on Friday, which included four bogeys, sent him packing.
As for Smash GC’s cheeky dig at Thomas, it no doubt feels emboldened given the increasing strength of the LIV Golf roster, highlighted by the fact that five former winners of The Players Championship are now among its line-up, including Cameron Smith, who claimed victory just two years ago.
Meanwhile, Thomas can at least take comfort in the knowledge that his failure to make the weekend can be seen as a blip in an otherwise encouraging start to 2024. The 2022 PGA Champion suffered a slump in form last year, but before this week, he had made the top 20 in five of his six starts of 2024.
