Just like he did in the Scottish Open last week, Justin Thomas has taken the lead early at Royal Troon.
Once again, Justin Thomas leads early. Thomas shot an 8-under 62 last Thursday at The Renaissance Club, vaulting him to the top of the Genesis Scottish Open leaderboard.
After the first day, he was in the lead alone with eight birdies to zero bogies. However, he ended up tying for 62nd place after fully tiring throughout the weekend. Due to what seemed to be the abandonment of every club in his bag starting on Friday, he was unable to repeat his early tournament success. Thomas finished the tournament at 4-under with a 72-71-71 score.
After a week, Thomas is back on top at The Open, at least in the early going. At Royal Troon, he took the lead early with a 3-under 68, the lowest score of the morning wave, after finishing birdie-birdie. “I thought I had excellent ball control.
I hit a lot of fairways, which is important in any major, but controlling the ball as it approaches the greens is very important in an open, according to Thomas.
“There was a little hiccup at the start of the back nine, but we persevered and kept plugging.” On the difficult par-4 12th hole, Thomas lost his drive into a gorse bush, making a double bogey. Having made five birdies in his opening ten holes, he was at 4-under par at that time.
However, that double knocked him back to 2-under, and he missed the fairway once more on the 13th, which led to another bogey. Nevertheless, it seems that everyone had a hiccup during the morning wave, just like Thomas did on the 12th and 13th holes.
On Troon’s gentle opening stretch of holes, players faced the breeze as the wind blew out of the south, which is unusual for the course. That also means playing the back nine downwind, which is more difficult.
The field was definitely stumped, as only a few players are below average by the end of the morning wave. It was just difficult because of how sturdy it was. According to Thomas, “I’d say [it blew] 15 to 20 [miles per hour.”
It was really strange since I had never played that front nine into the wind before. Hitting some clubs: I hammered a 7-iron into 1 today and a 3-wood up there on 3 to have a wedge in. I recall attempting to drive 1 and 3 in 2016. However, it was simply very, very different. However, it was all fairly standard for an Open, with everyone attempting to maximize their circumstances.
The Open takes great pleasure in its unpredictable nature, something Thomas severely struggled with at Royal Liverpool last year. He started The Open with a 10-over 82, which is 14 strokes lower than his total on Thursday.
A year has changed a lot, but Thomas isn’t thinking back on his difficulties from the past. “I couldn’t even tell you what was going through in my mind at the time. Thomas remarked, “I’m simply concerned about how I feel right now. “I’m happy with my performance and am certain that things will keep going in the correct way. All I have to do is keep trying to play well.
Thomas aims to avoid making the same error at Troon after folding last week in North Berwick. In addition to continuing to identify fairways, he will also require good fortune to be on his side.
Since Mother Nature, undulations, and bunker lies all play a significant role in a player’s title, winning The Open requires more luck than any other major. Though he made some excellent shots throughout the weekend, Thomas thought he had some bad breaks at The Reinassance Club last week.
However, he fell well short of matching that first-round 62. Even though he required six extra strokes on Thursday, Thomas stated that he thought he played better because of the circumstances and The Open’s history. Regardless, the inquiry is whether Thomas can maintain the momentum at Royal Troon.
Or will he disappear into thin air?