Just when it looked like things were panning out for Justin Thomas at the RBC Heritage, the golfing gods have once again been cruel to him as he seeks to keep the lead in the third round.
Holding a two shot lead going into the third round, Thomas was hoping for a repeat performance of the record breaking round he produced on the opening day.
Thomas’ 61 on Thursday made it 14 rounds of 62 or under for him as a PGA Tour player but yesterday’s less impressive round of 69 allowed some of the field to hone in on him.
Now, just two holes into his third round, Thomas effectively threw a shot away as he was forced to take a dropped shot on just the second hole.
Thomas called a rules official over after appearing to move the ball when moving loose impediments in a waste area. Sure enough, the official made the call and docked a shot.
Still, Thomas went on to make par on the par five but it will very much feel like a dropped shot and with Si Woo Kim overtaking him by the 12th hole, it proved costly.
However, over on social media, golf fans have been singing the praises of Thomas for his honesty.
Golf fans impressed by Justin Thomas for taking shot penalty at the RBC Heritage
We’ve seen over the years how some golfers have tried to use situations like this to their advantage and not actually said anything.
Patrick Reed has been at the centre of a number of those sorts of situations, and over on X, some fans were quick to mention Reed as they praised Thomas. Indeed, it was only at the latest Arnold Palmer Invitational that fans compared Wyndham Clark to Reed for his antics.
“Are you watching Patrick Reed? one fan wrote, while another fan also laid into Reed’s past.
“Patrick Cheater hippo reed the third should take notes”
As for Thomas himself, his actions were actually praised, as one fan lauded him for showing such honesty.
“I like JT. He’s a stand-up dude and takes the game seriously. I’m a 13 HCP and would have just played it lol”
`While another Thomas fan praised his integrity.
‘called the penalty on himself for the ball moving a millimetre in the waste area when no one else saw it! Ultimate integrity & huge respect for JT’
And in continuing the praise for ‘JT’, another suggested it showed his class.
“That’s a sign of a good player. They obsess with having the stroke count precise even if nobody else saw the ball move. Otherwise, ‘Because say I win the event, I want to be sure to myself and the fans it was a *real* victory and that I didn’t have a secret 1-stroke handicap.'”
Still, some fans called out the rule itself, suggesting it is quite ridiculous.
“This is in the top 5 “Man, I hate that rule in golf.” Up there with hitting out of a divot in the middle of the fairway… No advantage was gained.”
“It moved .00101135 centimeters and the golfing gods who wrote the rules 457 years ago felt someone should be penalized for something that would’ve given zero advantage.”
Should Thomas go on to lose this tournament by a single stroke, then this moment will have plenty of eyeballs on it.
If not, then we can all simply move on and enjoy another fine moment of sportsmanship in this great game we call golf.
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