Justin Thomas of the United States plays his third shot on the 16th hole during day one of the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club on July 11, 2024 in North Berwick, Scotland. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Thomas has had a disappointing year by his standards. He had two top-10 finishes early in the season — T-3 at the American Express and T-6 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am — but failed to do so in his next eight starts. However, over his last six starts entering this week, Thomas has made five cuts and finished T-8 or better three times: T-5 (RBC Heritage), T-8 (PGA Championship) and T-5 (Travelers Championship).
On Thursday, he kept the good times rolling with an opening-round 8-under 62 at The Renaissance Club. After birdieing his first hole of the day, Thomas made four straight birdies on Nos. 5-8 and made the turn with a 5-under 30.
The Alabama product added three more circles to his card on Nos. 10, 12 and 13 before a great save on the par-3 17th, making an 11-foot par putt after a wayward tee shot and a below-average chip. A near chip-in led to a tap-in par at the last and Thomas signed for an 8-under 62, one shy of tying the course record.
“It’s always good to get off to a good start, and even better to get off to a great one,” he said after his round. “I felt like I was in great control of everything. Just when I missed it, I missed it in the right spots and had a lot of really quality shots. On those 4-, 5-, 6-footers to kind of make something out of them, I stole a couple with some long or mid-range putts.
“Like any golfer, I would have loved to finish those last five holes a little bit better but I played really, really solid today, and that par putt on 17 was huge. I love going bogey-free so it was nice to — I would have had a different taste in my mouth walking off 18.”
Thomas’ last win came at the 2022 PGA Championship.
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