Justin Thomas wins Honda Classic in play-off, regains top spot in FedEx Cup
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Justin Thomas picked up his 7th win in just 31 starts with a birdie on the first play-off hole at PGA National to win the Honda Classic.
If it wasn’t already, Justin Thomas has just secured his name in the history books. His victory over Luke List was his eighth win on the PGA Tour, giving him a spot alongside Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods as one of only three players to have won as many times before turning 25.
It was Thomas’ second victory in just his 5th start, birdieing the 18th hole both in regulation play and in the first play-off hole against Luke List to secure the title, with strong challenges from European’s Alex Noren and Tommy Fleetwood just coming up short.
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Noren set the clubhouse target at 7-under-par, knowing both Thomas and List had a good chance of making birdies on the final hole to drop him back in to solo 3rd place. Thomas nearly holed out with a wedge on the 72nd hole for eagle, meaning List had to match his birdie to force extra holes.
List, going for his first PGA Tour win, made the mistake first by pushing his driver off in to the trees. While unable to reach the par-five in two, Thomas took on the water with a five-wood to reap the reward, two-putting for birdie and his first win in 2018.
“This was a hard win, it was,” Thomas said. “I was very calm and comfortable kind of those first 14 holes, and that’s the first time I’ve had to play the Bear Trap in that much pressure, and it was pretty nerve-wracking.”
“I just hit some really, really well-executed shots coming down the stretch. I haven’t done that on this difficult of holes before. One swing equals a double on those holes. It just was a big confidence booster, really.”
“It’s never easy. I would just say I’m becoming more comfortable,” he added of his win. “I embrace these situations. I love these situations. I love the opportunity to win. There’s a lot of great people I had to beat today. It was very difficult.”
“I feel very confident in pretty much every part of my game right now.”
The CJ CUP and Honda Classic (his last two wins) are the only two playoffs Thomas has been in in his career. He ended both with a birdie on a par-5 to win after going for the green in two.
“They both had water around the green, hitting the fairway was pivotal, … and they both had a very similar wind direction in terms of hitting the shots into the greens,” Thomas said. “Both in Korea and here, I was confident enough in my game to where I could just kind of step up and hit a golf shot.”
With this win, Thomas leapfrogs Jordan Spieth to take over 3rd place in the World Rankings, while also reclaiming the top spot in the Fed-Ex Cup, which he won last year.
WITB: Justin Thomas
Driver: Titleist 917D2 , 9.5 degrees
3-wood: Titleist 917F2, 15 degrees
5-wood: Titleist 915Fd, 18 degrees
Irons: Titleist 718 AP2 (4-iron), Titleist 718 MB (5-9), Titleist Vokey SM6 (46-08F degrees)
Wedges: Vokey SM5 (52-12F and 56-14F degrees), Vokey SM6 (60-08K)
Putter: Scotty Cameron X5 Flow Neck Prototype
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
