
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Justin Thomas had played, by his own estimation, “flawless” golf for 13 holes. He had made it all the way to the 16th hole at 2 under par. Then he did what everybody in golf does at some point. Everybody except Scottie Scheffler.
Thomas missed the fairway, successfully lobbied his ball to “get left, get left, get left” of the bunkers, and then stood in the rough and chunked it. Or maybe the course chunked it. Min Woo Lee described the Aronimink rough as “juicy,” and Sahith Theegala compared it to “an unripened banana.” Thomas’s shot traveled 97 yards, into more rough. His next shot was just on the wrong side of perfect. It ended up in a bunker, Thomas made bogey, and … well …