Wearing pants with a tartan design, Justin Thomas shot an 8-under 62 on Thursday to start the Genesis Scottish Open, his lowest round on the PGA TOUR since a 59 at the Sony Open in Hawaii seven years prior.
Rory McIlroy, who finished third at the U.S. Open last month, trailed by three strokes with a 65 that he thinks would be a significant step forward.
With the more forgiving afternoon weather, Thomas ,who was leading Sungjae Im by one shot was playing so brilliantly that he considered going under 60 with Jim Furyk. He made a mistake there.
“I looked up and saw even-par 70 when I was thinking it was 71, and I thought, Oh, I just need a couple more (birdies) and I can shoot 59.And then, shockingly, I made five consecutive pars.” the American said.
On the front nine at The Renaissance Club, Thomas fired off four consecutive birdies, three of which came from six feet or closer. He also birdied the par-5 10th hole with an easy up-and-down and blasted a 40-foot birdie putt on the 12th.
He reached 8-under par on the 13th hole after drilling his approach to 2 feet for a birdie on the course’s outward stretch near the Firth of Forth. Subsequently, the putts ceased to fall, including one on the 15th hole that was within a mere 10 feet. He teed off into the rough on the 16th par-5, squirted a 3-wood straight into the deep rough, and did a great job to make par.
Although Thomas hasn’t played this level of golf much lately, this was his 54th round with at least eight birdies, so he is still capable of it. Since winning the PGA Championship at Southern Hills two years ago, he has still yet to secure his first victory.
For his sixty-three, Im had nine birdies, including bogeys toward the beginning and conclusion.
Ludvig Åberg, a Swedish star who defeated two bogeymen as well, finished in a big group at 64, with German Maximilian Kieffer, Chinese Haotong Li, Belgian Thomas Detry, and American Justin Lower. They are all pursuing the objective of remaining in Scotland for an additional week. The top three players who aren’t previously qualified advance to The Open Championship.
Although it is not the official links surface that golfers will discover at Royal Troon next week, the Renaissance Club is links-styled. They at least get to see how the wind affects things and how the ball responds to the ground.
For McIlroy, the only thing to do was resume his work.
After the U.S. Open, when he finished one stroke behind Bryson DeChambeau at Pinehurst No. 2 after missing two short putts over the final three holes, McIlroy took a week off from playing golf.
He’s making an effort to see the wider picture. He claims that, except from the final four holes, the U.S. Open was a terrific week. McIlroy discussed his triumph at the Wells Fargo Championship as well as his strong showings in three other competitions.
I refuse to let three or four holes to influence my assessment of my playing ability. I was aware that I should continue playing golf as I had during June. Not just the U.S. Open was involved. Prior to that event, I performed well in the PGA and Quail Hollow, as well as the (RBC) Canadian Open and the Memorial (Tournament presented by Workday). Both before I came here and since then, my game has been in good condition.
“All that has to be done is get out there, concentrate on the work at hand, and avoid allowing your thoughts to stray too far from it. I thought I performed that well today.”he said.
On the par-5 third hole, it helps to chip in for eagle from beyond the green, which somewhat offset the disappointment of missing birdie opportunities in the middle of his second nine. As the reigning champion, McIlroy has two goals in mind: another victory and Royal Troon.
Not for everyone, but this tournament, which is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the PGA TOUR, is a popular stop before the year’s last major. Among those that skipped this one were Patrick Cantlay and golf’s top player, Scottie Scheffler.
With a moderate breeze in the morning and a little less in the afternoon, the average score was 68.7. Of the 156 players in the field, twenty-two were at 65 or below, while 98 golfers broke par.
Among them were Jordan Spieth and Will Zalatoris, who both felt much worse at 71.
“In terms of weather and circumstances, this is the easiest links golf course you will find. You have a lot of short clubs when you drive it properly, like I did much of the day. And all I see is pin.” Thomas said.
