Justin Thomas switches focus to Texas after ‘unfathomable’ US PGA win

Justin Thomas has put the celebrations of his “unfathomable” US PGA Championship triumph on hold for another week.

Thomas lifted the Wanamaker Trophy for a second time on Sunday, defeating fellow American Will Zalatoris in a three-hole aggregate play-off after the pair had finished tied on five under par at Southern Hills.

The former world number one began the final round seven shots off the lead and was eight behind after playing his first eight holes in one over, including a bogey on the sixth following a shanked tee shot.

“I haven’t had a chance to watch the full coverage on Sunday, which I’d like to, but I did happen to see (that) when I was putting on nine, I was eight back,” Thomas said in a pre-tournament press conference ahead of this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge.

“I was eight back with 10 holes to go. That’s unfathomable. If I was looking at leaderboards, I probably would not have thought I even had a chance to win. It’s a huge learning lesson for me. You’ve got to play golf. Those majors and in golf tournaments, anything can happen.”

Thomas won his first major title in the 2017 US PGA at Quail Hollow but had gone more than a year without a win since his victory in last year’s Players Championship at Sawgrass.

“When you’re on a roll and you’re playing really well and you’re fortunate enough to have three, four, five-win seasons, I think you sometimes can take it for granted and forget how incredibly hard it is to win out here,” he added.

“I feel like I’ve been playing some of the best golf of my career the last year and have literally had nothing to show for it. It’s hard to win out here and you just don’t know when it’s going to happen again.

“For it to happen at the biggest stage, at a major, to win my