Justin Thomas admitted an 81 in the second round of the 2023 US Open left him the "lowest I've felt" as he missed the cut by 12 shots at Los Angeles Country Club.
While this year's US Open set-up has been criticised by some for being too easy, Thomas posted the second worst score of his PGA Tour career and was one of only two players not to break 80 across the first 36 holes.
The two-time Major winner came into the week on a poor run of form, but was left baffled after feeling like he'd turned a corner with his game following a missed cut at the Memorial.
"I was playing the best I’ve played in a really long time this week, so funny game, man," Thomas told reporters. "It can leave you speechless, both good and bad, and right now it's unfortunate. But once I’m able to reflect and figure out what I can learn and get better from, it’ll end up good. But it sucks right now."
Thomas opened with a disappointing three-over 73 on a day of low scoring but worse was to come on Friday in Hollywood. Instead of making inroads into his deficit, he tumbled down the leaderboard with seven bogeys and three doubles that saw him finish ahead of just three players at the halfway point of America's national championship.
He called his performance "humiliating and embarrassing" but was able to look on the bright side as he targeted a strong showing at The Open at Hoylake next month.
"It’s all pretty sh***y when you shoot 14-over," Thomas added. "I’ll figure it out. I have another Major left. If I go win the British Open, nobody even remembers that I’ve missed the cut by a zillion here, so I’ve just got to find a way to get better and learn from this, and if I can, I don’t have to look at this week as a total failure."
