Justin Thomas recalls Jordan Spieth’s ‘immature’ reaction to his debut round of 65 on the PGA Tour
· Yahoo Sports
Justin Thomas has shared the story of how Jordan Spieth reacted when he shot 65 in his first PGA Tour round at just 16 years old.
There were already early indications that Thomas had a bright future ahead of him when he played his first PGA Tour event as a teenager back in 2009.
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He started the Wyndham Championship with a bogey-free round, later becoming the third youngest player ever to make a cut on the tour. He ended up tied for 78th that week.
But it wasn’t so much his score that stayed with Thomas – it was how Spieth reacted to it.
Jordan Spieth’s reaction to Justin Thomas’ PGA Tour debut
Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesJustin Thomas made his first PGA Tour appearance back in 2009, playing in the Wyndham Championship at just 16. He shot a bogey-free 65 in the opening round and spoke about it years later on The Smylie Show, sharing how Jordan Spieth reacted at the time.
“16 years old, missed my first week of school which was incredible, obviously. Yeah, I got to play in a PGA Tour event as a 16-year-old. On the Jordan topic, it is funny, I remember very vividly I shot a bogey-free 65 in the first round. You want to talk about blacking out. There was a weather delay, so I had to come back and finish the first round and then played some of the second round, but when I got done, I was in the top five I think, or around the top 10 after the first day,” he said.
“I will never forget being in the locker room, there’s no way he remembers this, Jordan, but he calls me. He doesn’t really do that now, but he definitely didn’t do that then, so I was like, ‘that’s kind of weird’. So I pick up the phone, he’s like, ‘hey, did you shoot 65 in the Wyndham?’ I’m like, ‘what?’ ‘Did you shoot a bogey-free five under in the first round?’ And I was like, ‘yeah’. And he just hangs up. It was the most immature 16-year-old jealous [reaction], like ‘did you kiss that girl?’
“There’s no way that he remembers that, but I will never forget, because I went home and told my parents, told my friends, ‘I don’t think Jordan’s very happy for me right now’. We’ve grown up a little bit since 16-year-olds.”
While there were no hard feelings between them looking back, it added another layer to their rivalry as they were both still very young players at that time. They’ve certainly grown up since those early days, with plenty more stories adding to their friendship over the years.
Jordan Spieth’s opening round a year after Thomas’ debut
Spieth made his own PGA Tour debut the following year at the Byron Nelson Championship, held at TPC Las Colinas in Texas.
He got off to a solid start, posting rounds of 68, 69, and 67 to leave himself within touching distance of the leaders going into Sunday in his home state.
Spieth finished tied for 16th after matching eventual winner Jason Day’s final-round 72. Just over three years later, he claimed his first PGA Tour title at the John Deere Classic.
One thing Thomas always kept in his back pocket though: while Spieth’s first round included a bogey, Thomas opened with a clean card.
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