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Justin Thomas Joins Scottie Scheffler atop Travelers Championship
Justin Thomas Joins Scottie Scheffler atop Travelers Championship

Newsweek

time2 hours ago

  • Sport
  • Newsweek

Justin Thomas Joins Scottie Scheffler atop Travelers Championship

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Justin Thomas was on fire during the second round of the Travelers Championship, carding a 6-under 64 that propelled him into first place. There, he joined World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who remains co-leader for the second consecutive round. Naturally, Thomas was very pleased with his performance on Friday. Speaking to the media after the second round, the 16-time PGA Tour winner identified two factors that were key to his score: "I was very patient. I hit a lot of really, really good iron shots," he said. Justin Thomas of the United States plays his shot from the first tee during the second round of the Travelers Championship 2025 at TPC River Highlands on June 20, 2025 in Cromwell, Connecticut. Justin Thomas of the United States plays his shot from the first tee during the second round of the Travelers Championship 2025 at TPC River Highlands on June 20, 2025 in Cromwell, most professional golfers, Thomas was highly critical of his game, but found the result encouraging, given the circumstances. "I didn't feel like I drove it very well. I kept it in play and kept it in front of me, which is a big part of it, but I just kind of kept it out of trouble." "I would much prefer to be hitting the middle of the club face and doing that, but it's still a good sign on a really windy day like this if I am far from my best, I can get it around the course and just stay patient, and finally make some putts on that back nine." "It was nice." Justin Thomas started the second round with a clean card on the front nine with two birdies. However, the best was yet to come. After a bogey on the 10th hole, he responded with five consecutive birdies. Thomas then parred the final three holes to finish the round at 6-under and the first 36 holes at 9-under. JUSTIN THOMAS T1 — Fore Play (@ForePlayPod) June 20, 2025 This performance allowed Thomas to climb 14 spots to first place. The day before, he had finished tied for 15th place at 3-under, with four birdies and one bogey. Thomas is currently tied for first place with Scheffler, who shot 1-under par for the second round, adding it to his 8-under from the previous day. The two-time major champion has regained his peak form during the 2025 season, earning one victory at the RBC Heritage and three second-place finishes in 14 tournaments. His biggest loss this year has been in the major championships, as he missed the cut at the US Open and the PGA Championship, and finished T36 at the Masters Tournament. Nevertheless, these results have returned him to the top 10 in the world rankings (he is currently ranked 5th) and kept him ranked 4th in the FedEx Cup standings. He is also virtually guaranteed a spot on the Ryder Cup team. More Golf: Rory McIlroy Quips Media with 'Report Birdies and Bogeys' at Travelers

Why Justin Thomas is getting 'p*****d off' as he soars at the Travelers
Why Justin Thomas is getting 'p*****d off' as he soars at the Travelers

Daily Record

time3 hours ago

  • Sport
  • Daily Record

Why Justin Thomas is getting 'p*****d off' as he soars at the Travelers

American star takes anger of Oakmont into superb show at TPC River Highlands Passionate Justin Thomas admits he still gets 'p****d off' more than he should after bad weeks at the office. The American star produced a brilliant Friday 64 in gusting winds to join Scottie Scheffler at the top of the leaderboard at the Travelers Championship. ‌ Thomas was a picture of dejection last week at the US Open when he played terribly by his own admission and missed the cut at a second-straight Major. ‌ The 32-year-old hung around Oakmont on the Saturday to put in graft and help his game, but it didn't stop him hurting at the display and he admits it still takes longer than he would like to get over bad showings and close the book. Thomas said: 'It unfortunately hasn't become any easier. I still get pretty p****d off about it and it weighs on me more than it should. I think you hear a lot of guys talk about it, their golf defining them and it doesn't change who they are as a person. But I still very clearly think of myself as my person of how I'm playing golf. I would like to change that, but it's just the reality. It means a lot to me. 'You could say it's good or bad, but coming to a place that I like and I feel like I kind of know, it's a lot easier for me to get over last week versus if I was going to a course that I haven't had success at or I feel like I have a hard time playing, then it could be a little like: Uh oh, what are we going to do kind of thing. 'It's a great tournament and it's deserved a lot of accolades and a lot of respect from players and fans and everybody. Now the guys are coming to play it. I think they see it. It's a really fun golf course, especially after the week after the US Open. That can sometimes not be that fun. It feels like a little bit of a relief. It also still requires a lot, but it's a totally different kind. 'I went out and practised a good bit Saturday because I felt like I played pretty terribly and wanted to get some work in. I felt I was close and just wasn't sharp. Just too many shots that weren't good enough.' ‌ Thomas, who won this year's RBC Heritage, delivered some magic with five-straight birdies down the nine nine to rifle himself towards the summit in Connecticut and it was even-more impressive given the buffeting winds which hit TPC River Highlands and put the brakes on some scoring. He said: 'I felt like I was in good control. I just kept it out of trouble, but it's still a good sign on a really windy day that, if I have far from my best, I can just get it around the course and then just stay patient. 'It was a lot of crosswinds and the difference of riding the wind and holding the wind has a big difference of distance control and everything. It's hard to get in the rhythm and I kind of struggled with that. I'm giving it enough room to stay luckily in the fairway. ‌ 'The last probably three or four years, I've just committed to almost hitting driver or three-wood and just kind of hitting just a little like dinky kind of shot out there. Something to where like I don't care what it looks like. I don't care anything. I'm just trying to hit it in a fairway and whatever is most comfortable doing that. "I think it's why I have had some good rounds in conditions like this because I can't really play golf swing, I have to play way more golf and I can't be over the ball thinking about what it's like here. getting this way or one way or another, with the winds blowing 25 or 30 off my left shoulder, I need to figure out how to make it not go right and it's just all feel. There's something to be said for that. I just need to do a better job of doing that when it's blowing five miles an hour and not 35 miles an hour. "It's why Scottie is so good in the wind, he hits the middle of the club face about every time. That's a huge part of it. The distance control. Hit the shot that you're requiring. It's way more art because you just have to create and kind of feel out there. 'I played so many rounds of golf and so many different kinds of conditions that I think you almost have like kind of muscle memory or just memory of stuff in past. And then you just try to hopefully pick up on some things that you've learned and just notice. Like in an Open Championship or something or, or, or any tournament, you're kind of not middle of the pack or something and see like windy conditions, I just get excited because I know it's extremely difficult and a couple under goes a really, really, really long way. I just try to embrace it and feel like I do a decent job of that.'

U.S. Ryder Cup team: J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin can bring hope to Bethpage
U.S. Ryder Cup team: J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin can bring hope to Bethpage

New York Times

time12 hours ago

  • Sport
  • New York Times

U.S. Ryder Cup team: J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin can bring hope to Bethpage

You might have found yourself watching the final rounds of the U.S. Open and wondering where the stars were. Understandable. But there were far more names you'll need to know this fall than you realized. For all the chaos Oakmont Country Club inflicted on the best golfers in the world, it was the most telling week in a long time. It was the week that clarified a wide-open Ryder Cup roster race. Advertisement When my colleague Gabrielle Herzig and I did Ryder Cup projections in April, it was pure guessing on the U.S. side. There were perhaps six sure things followed by countless struggling stars and streaky golfers capable of turning back into pumpkins any day now. Zero clarity. Suddenly, though, the usurpers are proving to be the real deal. They're flat out earning spots. But it's not just them. Some of those Ryder Cup veterans playing so poorly that they didn't deserve picks after the Masters? They're showing life. It's about to get interesting. Let's just get out of the way that Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau and Collin Morikawa will be on the team, most likely as automatic qualifiers. Then, let's make clear that even for all their major struggles, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay are on. They are both modern Ryder Cup stars with a combined 12 wins (plus Presidents Cup success), and Thomas is back up to No. 9 in the world on DataGolf while Cantlay is 15. They're in. J.J. Spaun jumps 10 spots to No. 3️⃣ in the U.S. Ryder Cup Rankings after his @usopengolf win! Full Rankings ➡️ 🇺🇸 — Ryder Cup USA (@RyderCupUSA) June 16, 2025 Lastly, unless things go quite awry, Russell Henley is likely to be picked or qualify automatically. Aside from the fact he's No. 10 on DataGolf, No. 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking and coming off three top 10s in his last five majors, his performance at the last Presidents Cup (3-1 record) proved he's made for this setting. He's a plug-and-play Swiss Army knife who appeared to be the perfect pairing with Scheffler. On a team without many good putters, Henley is fantastic on the greens. That's seven names. But the story of Oakmont is actually the grinders who've gone from fringe candidates to probably on the team. Start with J.J. Spaun, the U.S. Open winner who is now No. 3 in the rankings and likely to automatically qualify. Advertisement Don't even start saying it. No, he will not make the team just because he won a major, like Brian Harman two years ago. Nope. Spaun was already 13th in Ryder Cup points before his incredible performance. Last June, it looked like the 34-year-old could lose his tour card. Everything since then? Objectively, one of the best players in the world. Third place at Sony. Fifteenth at Torrey Pines. Tied for second at the Cognizant. He took Rory McIlroy to a playoff at The Players with some sincerely clutch golf. I didn't see any other Americans within two shots that week. Add in the T6 at Charles Schwab and now this life-changing win, and Spaun is No. 18 in the world in DataGolf and even better if just factoring in 2025. He's on the team, no matter what. You might not have known the name Ben Griffin a year ago. Now, you simply cannot ignore him. Even before his recent heater, he had three top 10s by March and was trending in the right direction. But my goodness, what is happening? A team win at the Zurich Classic, followed by a T8 at the PGA Championship, a win at Colonial, second place at the Memorial — going toe to toe with Scheffler — and now a T10 at the U.S. Open. He's up to eighth on points, but it's more than that. Rocking the aviators (for medical reasons) with a big, charming personality, Griffin simply has the panache to thrive at Bethpage in front of the New York crowd. Barring a strong collapse, I will truly be surprised if he's not on the team. As of March, it would have been pretty reckless to take 2023 teammates Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka or Sam Burns to Bethpage. Spieth was coming off wrist surgery and still hadn't shown much. Koepka's game was nonexistent for the better part of two years. And Burns was missing cuts and went months without a top-20 finish. Suddenly, they all have life. Burns led the U.S. Open through 64 holes and finished second the week before. He's arguably the best putter in the world (again, that matters for the U.S.) and is back up to No. 11 on DataGolf. Plus, I know we roll our eyes at it, but he is very good friends with Scheffler and has a good relationship with most of the room. At this point, I think Burns is in. Spieth finished 23rd at Oakmont after a T7 at the Memorial. He has seven top 20s this year. And let's be honest with ourselves. Spieth and Koepka have a different rubric for making the team. They are some of the best of their generation. Spieth, at least, is perhaps the biggest leader in that room. I don't think Spieth needs to be a top-10 player to make it. He just needs to show he's back to being pretty good, and right now, he's the best golfer he's been since 2021. For the moment, we'll assume that the injury which caused him to withdraw from the Travelers Championship on Thursday is not longterm. Advertisement Koepka has a ways to go. Again, he hasn't just struggled. He's been outright bad. So while it was super encouraging to see his T12 at Oakmont, he'll need to play well at the Open Championship and even play better on LIV. He's No. 72 in the world right now on DataGolf. Plus, he no-showed hard at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome. If we hypothetically say that's 11 names, including Burns and Spieth but not Koepka, then who gets the final spot? That crop looks better than it did two months ago. Andrew Novak, Griffin's partner in crime at Zurich, was golf's hottest player before Griffin took the title. Maverick McNealy is streaky, sure, but when he's on, he's absolutely filthy. That's something in match play. Daniel Berger's comeback tour has been worth following, but he'd likely need a win or a big performance at Royal Portrush to break through. Harris English continues to play solid golf and was on the winning 2021 team. Akshay Bhatia has a chance, too. Oh, and we haven't even mentioned the captain. Keegan Bradley has maintained he wouldn't pick himself and would only play if he were an automatic qualifier. The problem is he's playing quite well. And he's mainly playing well at tougher tests like Bay Hill, Sawgrass, Muirfield Village and Quail Hollow. He's the 10th highest rated U.S. player in the DataGolf rankings. My goodness, the irony of the U.S. leaving out a better player because he's the captain is just too good. Maybe the most fun wild card to follow is the electric yet infuriating Cameron Young. He hasn't been the golfer who showed such immense promise in 2022 for a long time, but he's found something. At two incredibly tough courses, he just racked up consecutive T4s at the Memorial and the U.S. Open. He's also an absolute bomber. As much as I think course fit stuff than be a little overblown with Ryder Cups, Young's distance at Bethpage Black is the type that matters. There is still so much golf to be played between now and September, but it's no longer an abstract board of names. We have a strong feeling now about who should make it. And no, Patrick Reed will not be on this Ryder Cup team. (Top photos of J.J. Spaun, left, and Ben Griffin: Andrew Redington, Patrick Smith / Getty Images)

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