Justin Thomas continues to build momentum this season, with the two-time major winner finishing in a tie for second at the Truist Championship this past week.
It is the fourth time since the last Tour Championship that Justin Thomas has finished second on the PGA Tour. Funnily enough, the Truist Championship also marks the second time he has finished as a runner-up to Sepp Straka this year following The American Express.
He will have been frustrated that he just ran out of steam in the final stages at Philadelphia Cricket Club. But he will be pleased with the form he goes into the PGA Championship with.
Of course, there is an interesting contrast between the likes of Thomas and Rory McIlroy, and Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau.
Justin Thomas reflects on playing PGA Tour signature events either side of a major
Thomas and McIlroy did tee it up at the latest signature event on the PGA Tour. Meanwhile, Scheffler took the week off, while LIV Golf did not have an event this past week. So one of the big talking points has been about playing in signature events before and after majors.
Thomas won the RBC Heritage the week after The Masters. However, speaking after his final round, he admitted that there is one instance where playing a signature event so soon after a major is going to be an extremely difficult task.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure. I think it can be tough, but it’s very specific on the venue,” he said.
“To be perfectly honest, I think playing the week after the U.S. Open at Oakmont is going to really suck. Oakmont is hard, and it’s going to take a lot out of us. That’s really different than playing at a place where you’re shooting 15-, 20-under, but it is what it is.
“We’ll all be more than happy to tee it up, and there will be a winner at the end of the week.”
How Justin Thomas performed in the Travelers Championship after the 2024 US Open
It is going to be intriguing to see how players deal with the Travelers Championship in June. Oakmont has the potential to be a gruelling test, and it would not be a surprise to see one or two names subsequently drop out of teeing it up at TPC River Highlands.
Thomas has finished in the top 10 in each of the last two years at the Travelers Championship, with a tied fifth finish coming in 2024.
It came off the back of a dramatic US Open at Pinehurst. While the course is certainly no walk in the park, it appears to be less of a physical challenge than somewhere like Oakmont.
Scottie Scheffler also went into the week at Travelers Championship off the back of his most disappointing display in the majors in 2024. So that perhaps gave him the motivation to step up for the quick turnaround before the next signature event, which he would go on to win.
But if any tournament is going to force the PGA Tour into a rethink when it comes to how they schedule signature events, it may well be this year’s Travelers off the back of the third major of the year.
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