Skip to content

Justin Thomas should be everyone's favorite golfer

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

For many people, the PGA Tour season doesn't start until play begins on the California swing at the CareerBuilder Challenge, and if you are one of those people, you're missing the greatest show on turf.

His legal name is Justin Thomas, but at this point he might as well be called the Governor of Hawaii for the dominant performance he just laid down in the Aloha State.

Thomas roasted the competition on the gorgeous islands like the endless sun toasts the backs of unsuspecting tourists, shooting an absurd 49-under par on his way to back-to-back runaway victories in the SBS Tournament of Champions and the Sony Open.

Here's why everyone should be rooting for Thomas to continue his assault on the golfing world.

The guy is relentless

Many wondered how Thomas would play at Waialae Country Club after emerging victorious the previous week. It took him one hole to show that he wasn't resting on his laurels, pitching in for eagle on the first freakin' hole of his opening round.

Usually a 350-yard bomb piped down the middle of the fairway serves as a warning shot, but in this case, a 35-yard pitch was all that was needed to show Thomas was not to be messed with.

55 shots later, Thomas found himself 207 yards from the 18th green, standing in a fairway bunker. The 23-year-old needed to make eagle on the par-5 to shoot the seventh round of 59 in PGA Tour history. A 207-yard bunker shot seems highly unlikely to most, but Thomas smacked a majestic 3-iron that came to rest 14 feet from the hole.

@justinthomas34 thought his 59 bid was over when he found the bunker on No. 9. He was happy to be wrong.

A video posted by PGA TOUR (@pgatour) on

The putt was almost anti-climatic, never leaving its line as it plunged into the hole, prompting a wild fist pump from playing partner and best friend Jordan Spieth.

"It felt like we were playing a different tournament," Spieth said after Thomas' second straight win. "I honestly felt like I was trying to win the tournament for second place."

Yup, that's the fifth-ranked player in the world, and two-time major champion, admitting that nobody else had a shot against Thomas at Waialae.

The guy is a long-driving freakshow

Despite a relatively diminutive stature of 5-foot-10, 145 pounds, Thomas routinely blasts his tee ball past any of his playing partners, ranking in the top 20 in driving distance this season with a whopping 308 yards off the tee.

A dude that weighs less than most high school seniors is averaging more off the tee than the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Spanish bomber Jon Rahm. That makes this Kentuckian a pretty easy guy to root for.

He also seems to have no interest in playing "smart" golf with a lead, taking lines with his driver that the word aggressive doesn't do justice. It's basically the same strategy you might take in your weekly beer game with three buddies, except for the whole, "millions of people watching with millions of dollars on the line" thing.

He's a huge Alabama football fan

Thomas was an All-American at Alabama, winning six times and serving as the leader of the 2013 national championship winning side.

As most people that attend Alabama find out, football is life at the SEC school, and Thomas clearly is one of the rabid supporters of the Crimson Tide. Prior to his final round at the SBS Tournament of Champions, Thomas admitted he was more nervous about the upcoming national championship game between his beloved Tide and Clemson, then he was about his Sunday round.

"I swear," he told Jay Coffin of Golf Channel. "I was nervous. Then I was laying there a little bit longer and then today (the final round at Kapalua) came to mind. I was like 'man, we play a national championship tomorrow. We've got to win this game."

Unfortunately for Thomas, the Tide would lose on a last-second play, serving the star golfer a crushing defeat.

That's about the only thing that hasn't gone right for Thomas in his electrifying start to the 2016-17 season.

The only thing left for him to work on is his poses for trophy ceremonies, something he was quick to make fun of following his first win in Hawaii.

Too excited for the trophy to worry about my double chin #shaka

A photo posted by Justin Thomas (@justinthomas34) on

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox