After a final-round 65 at the PGA Championship, Justin Thomas sat in the clubhouse leader seat for more than an hour—without the post-round beers he expected—because he was forced into a long, uncomfortable wait while others were still playing.
After Justin Thomas shot a final round of 65 at the PGA Championship on Sunday, he didn’t celebrate.
He sat in the clubhouse leader position for more than an hour, doing one thing and one thing only: waiting. “I don’t know if there’s an art it. ” Thomas said when asked how players are supposed to handle a multi-hour wait with the lead. “I can tell you how there isn’t because it happened to me one time in Hartford, Connecticut, one year.”.
He pointed to Hartford as the template for what this felt like—specifically the 2016 Travelers Championship. Thomas recalled that same day when Jim Furyk shot 58, while Thomas finished with what he described as a similar score, “like 61 or 62,” with the leaders still in the middle of the front nine.
That’s when Thomas admitted he had a buddy there watching him. They planned to celebrate after he finished on the 18th hole. and when he wrapped up. they went into the clubhouse. “We went in the clubhouse and probably had like four or five beers at lunch,” Thomas said. “Next thing you know, it’s two-and-a-half hours later, and I’m still the leader in the clubhouse.”.
In Hartford. the waiting stretched out as the wind picked up to 15. 20 miles an hour. and the leaders were still on like 15. Thomas said he even worried about how long it would take to figure out what to do next: “Jimmy [Johnson] was caddying for me at the time. He’s at a Subway like an hour and a half away. He’s like what do we do?”.
Thomas drew a line from that memory to the promise he made for this tournament. “I’ve never not wanted to be in a playoff before,” he continued, “but I kind of didn’t want to be in a playoff then. That wouldn’t have been a good situation. So I’m not going to do that, I promise you that.”
But this week’s final story didn’t end with Thomas getting to linger in his own version of celebration.
Aaron Rai shot 65 in the final round to win the 108th PGA Championship. Thomas nailed a major par putt on the 18th hole to secure the 65 at Aronimink. tying his best score in 40 career rounds at the PGA Championship. The question was whether five under would hold. Thomas was blunt when asked whether 5 under would be enough: “I definitely need some wind. I need a little bit of help.”.
The help never arrived. Rai went off as a 150-to-1 longshot, cruised through his back nine, and finished 9 under to win his first major championship.
After the round, Thomas said he was happy to simply make pars this week—“like he did on No. 18 to complete his 65.” In his post-round interview, he added, “It was nice to play some holes in not 25-mile-an-hour wind today, selfishly.”
Then he tried to put the week into words: “But it’s just weird. you have so many scoring clubs. like you really can make — I feel like you can make a lot of birdies. you just have to hit a really. really good shot. And it’s very tough around the greens. and the greens are difficult to where. you know. you have to be putting it well.”.
Justin Thomas PGA Championship Aronimink Aaron Rai clubhouse lead final round 65 108th PGA Championship