In the world of professional golf, they are known as the “Class of 2011.” All of them were in their high school graduating class of 2011. First and foremost in this sixsome of note is Jordan Spieth. Spieth went to the University of Texas for one year, won an NCAA title for the Longhorns in the spring of 2012, turned professional in the summer of 2012, and you know the rest. At various times he has been the number one ranked golfer in the world and has a Masters green jacket and a United States Open title on his golfing resume.
Four other members of the Class of include Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo, Florida State’s Daniel Berger, Georgia Tech’s Ollie Schniederjans, and Patrick Rodgers from Stanford. Grillo won the tour event at Napa’s Silverado in October of 2015. Berger captured the St. Jude Classic in Memphis last June. Schniederjans won the Web.com Tour’s Air Capital Classic last June and has graduated to the PGA Tour for this year’s 2016-17 wrap-around season. Patrick Rodger’s claim to fame, long before he turned professional, was that he had won 11 college tournaments during his three years at Stanford. Those 11 collegiate victories put him atop the Stanford golf team record books, tied with a former alum named Tiger Woods. Rodgers also won during his rookie year on the Web.com Tour and is currently in his second season on the PGA Tour.
The sixth and final member of the Class of 2011 is Justin Thomas of Louisville, Kentucky. Thomas has yet to win a major championship, yet he is currently the hottest player in the world of professional golf. He’s 5’10”, weighs 145 pounds, is long off the tee, and putts brilliantly.
Justin Thomas was a golfing prodigy as a youngster. There is footage floating around that shows him hitting golf balls as a two year old, and accepting junior golf tournament trophies for winning his flight as a six year old. Justin estimates that he won more than 100 junior tournaments as a youngster. He continued to climb the ladder in junior golf, won three American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) national events, and became very well known to the world of golf in the summer between his sophomore and junior years of high school. That August, he played his way into the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship, one of the circuit’s longest running events that historically has gone by the name of the Greater Greensboro Open. Playing in the Wyndham as 16 year old is a big deal. Making the cut turned out to be an even bigger deal. Justin was the third youngest golfer in the history of the PGA Tour to make a 36 hole cut in one of its events.
Thomas decided to attend the University of Alabama and was on the golf team during his freshman and sophomore years. During that freshman season of 2012 he won the Haskins Award, given to the top collegiate golfer in the nation. The following year he led Alabama to the NCAA title. He played on the victorious Walker Cup team that summer, and then decided to leave college golf and turn professional. That fall he went to PGA Tour Q School and played well enough to garner a place on the AAA level Web.com Tour.
Early on, Justin found success on the Web.com Tour, winning the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio. The Nationwide Children’s is contested on the famed Donald Ross designed Scarlet Course at Ohio State University and is hosted by the legendary Jack Nicklaus. He had a strong rookie year on the Web.com Tour and finished in fifth place overall at season’s end, resulting in his graduation to the PGA Tour in the autumn of 2014.
Justin Thomas’ first year on the PGA Tour was a successful one as he finished 32nd on the money list, recorded seven top 10 finishes, and was the runner-up to Daniel Berger in the race for rookie of the year. The wrap-around 2015-16 season started in October of 2015 and one month later Justin had his breakthrough moment, winning the CIMB Classic at Kuala Lampur in Malaysia (Yes, Malaysia hosts an American PGA Tour event.) Especially important about his maiden victory was the fact that he shot a 61 in the second round and proceeded to beat former Masters’ champ Adam Scott by one stroke, making a six foot putt on the final hole. Later in the season he came in third at the ultra prestigious Tour Championship at Sawgrass. He finished the regular season in 10th place in the Fed Ex Cup standings.
The new PGA Tour 2016-17 wrap-around season began this October, and Justin Thomas has been the circuit’s dominant player this year. He was able to defend his title at Kuala Lampur, this time beating the ultra-hot Hideki Matsuyama of Japan by three strokes. Justin took some time off in December and returned to the tour in January of 2017. He was an automatic invite to the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua two weeks ago, shot rounds of 67-67-67-69 for a -22 under par total, and once again prevailed over Matsuyama by a three shot margin of victory.
For a tour pro, it makes sense to play in the Hawaiian Open the following week, and Justin continued to play rock solid golf. During Thursday’s first round, he eagled his first hole, eagled his last hole, and picked up another seven birdies to card an -11 under par 59. Breaking 60 is largely unchartered waters on the PGA Tour and he became just the eighth person in the history of the circuit to shoot in the 50s. As you might imagine, Justin is also the youngest golfer in history to record a 59. He followed up his record round with scores of 64-65-65 to finish at -27 under par, defeating former U.S. Open champ and current Olympic Games titlist Justin Rose by a staggering seven strokes. His total of 253 is the lowest 72 hole aggregate score posted in the history of the PGA Tour. Pretty heady stuff for a guy who graduated from high school just five and one half years ago.
Next up on the Justin Thomas career golfing quest is a major title. He has only played in six grand slam events with his best finish coming in the PGA Championship with an 18th place finish. He will have to be considered one of the favorites when the Masters rolls around in less than three months. He has shown the capacity to go low, to play various types of courses in far flung locales, and he could soon be the equal of fellow 2011 alum Jordan Spieth. He also is giving something back to the game, as last summer he hosted an AJGA event in his hometown called the Justin Thomas Classic.
There’s a lot of young talent currently residing atop leader boards at PGA Tour events. It looks like Justin Thomas, currently ranked eighth in the world, is ready to become a star on tour
