Justin Thomas is enduring a tough spell on the PGA Tour and has carded only three top-10 finishes since the turn of the year.
However, one of those came in last week’s Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, where he finished tied for ninth, which hinted a run of better form may not be far away.
Thomas is back in action again this week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. As he prepares for that challenge, he reflected on how he has stayed strong mentally during a run of form that included a missed cut at the US Open with a second round of 81 he described as "humiliating."
He said: “It's tough. I work on it like I work on my wedge game. I practice it, I try to learn from it like I do every tournament. I think after it was done long enough and I was able to reflect, I learned a lot from the US Open.
“I felt like I was playing - I know I was playing the best golf that I've played in a really long time. I mean, I'm talking two, three, four, five years. Because of that, my expectations got up and I fully expected to go win that golf tournament.
“I started I was playing more golf swing than I was golf and that got in the way. Last week I wasn't feeling great about my golf swing in the beginning of the week and I kind of said screw it, I'm just going to go out here and hit shots and play golf. “
That approach certainly worked in Connecticut in a performance that included a hugely impressive eight-under round of 62 on the Saturday. Thomas then revealed a message from his wife Jillian Wisniewski before the tournament that had helped him get in the right headspace for the tournament.
He continued: “All the credit to, honestly, my wife Wednesday night last week sent me a text that I woke up to Thursday that just kind of, it resonated to me and it really hit home better than anything I've heard.
“Just basically said remember why you love this game and why you play this game and why you're out there, just enjoy that and kind of take it in. It hit home for me.”
Thomas admitted the timely message stayed with him while he was competing. He said: “So last week, any kind of challenge I faced, anything good that happened, anything bad that happened, I just kind of remembered this is why I play professional golf and that's, it's why I'm doing this. You know, it's like anything, you just try to get better.”
'I Need To Take It One Step At A Time'
Thomas also revealed that, despite his recent issues on the course, he still optimistic of reaching the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake for an eighth straight season, but admitted there’s work to be done.
He said: “I need to take it one step at a time. I'm very fortunate that I've never been in this position in my career, but unfortunately I need to play some good golf to be worried about - not worried, but to take it one step at a time.
“In the past I've kind of already been looking at East Lake at this point in the season, but I'm not in that spot right now so I just need to continue to keep building and keep working on what I have been."
