Thomas cards record-tying 62, vaults into Players contention - ESPN

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The crowd assembled around the famous 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass stood in unison. Justin Thomas had just hit it to 18 feet on the island green — a satisfactory result — but it was what Thomas had crafted in the previous 16 holes that had fans all clamoring his name.

After starting his second round at 6 over, tied for 134th place and 12 shots behind the leader, Thomas had turned TPC Sawgrass into his playground, pouring in 10 birdies over 16 holes and shooting up the leaderboard of the Players Championship. The putt on 17 had just enough speed to trickle in and give Thomas his 11th birdie of the day, a tournament record. His lone bogey on 18 did not detract from the round of the day — a 62 that tied the course record shot by Tom Hoge in 2023 and gave Thomas a whopping 16-shot difference between Thursday and Friday.

«That was one of the best rounds I've played,» he said. «I felt like I did an unbelievable job of keeping my eyes forward, keeping my blinders on, not looking backwards, forwards, anything like that. It was just: How can I put this ball in the fairway off the tee? And then how can I make birdie, and let's rinse and repeat.»

In some ways, the mindset that fueled Thomas's dream round was the same that kept it from being even better.

As Thomas made his way to the 18th tee and the late-afternoon light colored the course in an orange hue, the crowd grew around him, excited at the possibility of witnessing history. Thomas said he wasn't fully aware that he could set the course record. The only thing on his mind, he said, was making another birdie. But after pushing his fairway wood off the tee into the right rough, the two-time major champion was left with a tricky shot.

«Once I missed the