On Sunday, with the golf world watching and a group of hungry competitors breathing Authent... Jhonny Peralta Womens Jersey down his neck as he held and brilliantly protected his lead on the back nine, Thomas wore his big-boy pants.
Where to start?
How about with the first hole, where he essentially whiffed on a greenside bunker shot, splashed the second one out and calmly drained the bogey putt that might have been the most important stroke he made all day.
Thomas began the day two shots behind Kevin Kisner, who had at least a share of the lead at the end of all three previous rounds. Kisner shot 74 and finished 4-under.
Like one of those racehorses at Churchill Downs in his http:... hometown of Louisville, Thomas made his move on the seventh hole with a birdie to get back to 5-under. He birdied No. 9 to get to 6-under and under par for the round.
His birdie on No. 10 was magical. It will stand as moment that will forever be a part of this tournament’s lore.
First, Thomas’ tee shot clipped a tree and bounded back into the fairway. Massive break. Then his 18-foot birdie putt came to rest on the edge of the cup and stayed there for what seemed like an eternity.
Thomas, dumbfounded it didn’t drop, started to walk over to tap it in for a [url=http://www.officialavalancheauthentic.com/Joe_Colborne_Jersey]Joe Colborne Jersey deflating par. And suddenly — like that infamous Tiger Woods chip that hung on the lip and dropped in on No. 16 at Augusta — it fell into the hole.
“I didn’t even see it go in,’’ Thomas said. “I was looking at [caddie] Jimmy [Johnson], asking, ‘How does that not go in?’ ”
Thomas chipped in from the fringe on No. 13 for another birdie to get to 8-under and take a two-shot lead.
“That chip-in on 13 was probably the most berserk I’ve ever gone on the golf course,’’ Thomas said.
Then came No. 17. Wow. No. 17 had been eating players for [url=http://www.officialavalancheauthentic.com/Joe_Sakic_Jersey]http://www.offic... lunch all day. Thomas birdied it, making a 15-foot putt that sent reverberations through the Quail Hollow grounds.
All three were waiting for Thomas to hug him hard when he walked off the 18th green.
Thomas, shooting a final-round 3-under 68 to finish 8-under and two shots clear of Patrick Reed, Louis Oosthuizen and Francesco Molinari, went out and seized victory after starting the day two shots off the lead and bogeying the first hole.
“I just had this calm about me all day,” Thomas said. “I was a lot more [img]http://www.texansonlineofficialstore.com/images/products/nike_nfl_jerseys/n... calm than I thought I’d be. I thought I’d be very shaky. That’s why you play. You play for those nerves.”
“When he birded 17, I’m like, ‘Wow, he’s going to win this,’ ” Mike Thomas said. “This is crazy. Unbelievable.”
Asked how young Justin was when he first told his father he wanted to win a major.
“Like all kids, 5 or 6 years old,” Mike Thomas said. “But you know, I said that, too, and I sucked.”