Issues couldn’t have began a lot worse for Justin Thomas in Liverpool.
Throughout the former world No. 1’s first spherical on the British Open on Thursday, he tried to chip a shot over one in every of Hoylake’s trademark pot bunkers however failed miserably — hitting the ball straight into the bunker and dooming his first spherical.
The 2-time American PGA champion completed 11 pictures over par after his abysmal first spherical, tied for 154th on the event with a rating of 82.
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It’s the second consecutive spherical at a serious championship wherein Thomas has crumbled: he shot an 81 throughout his final spherical on the U.S. Open, the place he missed the lower.
“It’s positively the bottom I’ve felt. It’s fairly actually humiliating and embarrassing capturing scores like that. At a golf course I actually, actually favored. I assumed it was arrange very effectively,” Thomas mentioned after his disastrous exhibiting in California.
“It’s a humorous recreation, man. It might depart you speechless, each in good and unhealthy, and proper now it’s sadly unhealthy. As soon as I’m in a position to type of mirror and work out what I can study and get higher from, you recognize, it’ll find yourself good. Nevertheless it sucks proper now.”
The links-style course has offered its fair proportion of challenges for the world’s greatest golfers: Rickie Fowler carded an eight on the 18th gap and Lucas Herbert blew an opportunity on the lead after hitting a triple-bogey on gap No. 17.
Christo Lamprecht, Tommy Fleetwood and Emiliano Grillo are tied for the lead as the primary spherical wraps up in Liverpool, because the three of them are capturing 5 underneath par.It has been a tough season for Thomas, 30, who has 15 profession wins on the PGA Tour.
The perfect outing at a serious from the previous College of Alabama golfer final got here in 2022 when he received the PGA Championship in Might.
— This initially appeared in NY Put up and was republished with consent.