Justin Thomas was paired alongside Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood on day one of The Open Championship.
Thomas shot an opening round of one-over par 72 at Royal Portrush, and he’s currently sitting in a tie for 45th after day one at The Open Championship.
The 32-year-old has actually been in poor form recently, with just one top-10 to his name since mid-May.
His performances in the majors have left a lot to be desired as well, with two missed cuts and a T-36th at The Masters.
Thomas practiced for The Open without a driver, instead opting for a new mini driver in order to keep the ball low out on the links.
The American has been struggling with his game in general over the past two months, so he was clearly looking for different ways to turn things around.
However, it was slow play that was his biggest issue on day one in Northern Ireland.
‘Tired’ Justin Thomas comments on ‘really slow’ play at The Open
The pace of play was truly painful to watch on day one at The Open.
The conditions and the difficulty of the golf course obviously don’t help matters, but six hours is far too long to be out on a golf course.
Firstly, Thomas was asked what he thought of the slow play out on the course on Thursday.
He said: “I’m just tired right now. It’s a long day. Yeah, I played really well. I feel like that’s just kind of the weather you can get so easily here. I’ve played a couple times in Northern Ireland, and you very often get a lot of seasons in one day.
“Yeah, just kind of have to take what you’re given at that specific or certain time kind of thing.
“It’s no different than a normal round. I don’t know, just kind of every day is different. Some days it’s easier or harder than others. More than anything, it’s just once you kind of get back into your shot or whatever, then it’s time to just step back into that focus and that zone and focus on what I’m trying to do, and I feel like I did a really good job of that today.
“It seemed really slow. Once we got to the back nine, it just seemed — yeah, it just — I mean, the back nine’s so tough with all the cross-winds. It’s really, really hard to hit fairways. Then when you miss the fairway, it’s hard to hit the green. It’s a grind, so everyone’s going through it.
Then Thomas was asked to provide an explanation as to why rounds were taking so long.
He explained: “Yeah, it’s a lot of people in a golf tournament, and that’s going to create — I mean, a city that has a lot more population. Traffic is going to be a lot worse than it is in Pikeville, Kentucky, that’s just the way it is. Then you add the elements and add everything, it’s just going to be a long day.“
Robert MacIntyre has a different theory to Justin Thomas on slow play at The Open
MacIntyre shot a round of even-par 71 on Thursday, and he was not happy with the pace of play either.
The Scot was asked to explain why he thought rounds were taking around six hours on day one.
He said: “Aye, I thought six hours in a practice round the other day was a long time. I didn’t think six hours in a tournament.
“We couldn’t have went any faster with — I was speaking there to the guys, and they’re saying pretty much everybody’s five hours 55. I guess golf courses are too long.“
Thomas’s ‘busy city’ theory makes far more sense than MacIntyre’s does.
However, the bottom line is that the pace of play at The Open on Thursday proved that something has to drastically change.
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