Justin Thomas is flashing at just the right time heading into the 84th Masters Tournament. How the Louisville native can cement his legendary legacy at Augusta. Plus, our top picks and plays heading into the best golf week of the year.
Hall of Famer Gary Player once said of Augusta National Golf Club that “every shot is within a fraction of disaster. That’s what makes it so great.”
“Great” is a term that is used loosely among the field of 88 who travel to Augusta, Georgia the second weekend in April each year. Tommy Tolles said Augusta “is probably the only golf course I have spent a week on and never felt comfortable over a shot.”
Tucked away in a surprisingly urban area of eastern Georgia sits a piece of land that looks exactly as its creator intended it. And I’m not referring to course architects Bobby Jones and Allister McKenzie. Augusta National is as pristine of a course as you will find in the world. It is as equally as beautiful as it is daunting. Rolling hills make for tricky sightlines, never yielding a flat lie. Glass-like greens make difficult shots nearly impossible to execute. A design that, on paper, would feel like a walk in the park for the world’s greatest players is anything but.
The Masters doesn’t boast the best field in golf. The course doesn’t change from year to year. However, it is by far the most prestigious competition and coveted prize. It is truly the fairest, yet the most difficult challenge in golf.
A larger-than-life feeling
The Masters is an enigma. In one sense, Augusta National is the most exclusive club in the world. An invitation-only fraternity that just recently allowed a woman to join. Presidents, world leaders, and elite members of society are allowed to play the course. Few others ever set foot on its grounds outside of Masters week. The Augusta National chairmen kept things uptight until recent years. Television announcers could only refer to the crowd as “patrons.” CBS was only allowed to show the back nine of Augusta. The club refused to relinquish the rights to play its course even on the popular Tiger Woods PGA Tour video game. Things have lightened up in recent years, but that has not taken away from the mystique of Augusta National.
On the other hand, Augusta is fun. It is known for the loudest roars, passionate patrons, and the most exciting traditions. The Wednesday par 3 contest is a hole-in-one-filled family atmosphere that allows fans to see a side of the players that they don’t often experience. The fan experience is second-to-none. While other PGA tournaments will cost you a mortgage payment for parking, souvenirs, food, and drinks, Augusta charges $1.50 for a pimento cheese sandwich. You’ll have to fork over a whopping $2.50 for a club sandwich.
The Masters has a condensed field, and, in many ways, stringent guidelines. Yet, somehow, it maintains an intimate feeling. It’s a larger-than-life tournament in the coziest possible setting.
In many ways for Justin Thomas, The Masters may feel a lot like home.
The son of one of only two Master Professionals in the state and grandson of another PGA pro, Thomas grew up around the game. His father, Mike, was a long-time head professional at Harmony Landing Golf Club in Goshen, Kentucky just outside of Louisville.
On a much smaller scale, Harmony Landing is like Augusta. Growing up, I heard people refer to HLCC as “Bushwood,” referencing a snootier-leaning club in the movie Caddyshack. In many ways, the poshness and privacy of the club lived up to that billing on a local level.
As a college golfer, I would get the chance to play Harmony a few times a year.
HLCC has no tee times. You walk up and they will get you out as soon as possible. A visit to walk 9 one morning was the perfect example of what the experience at the course is about. When you enter the golf shop at HLCC, there is a whole wall dedicated to Thomas. The over-told story about Mike saving Justin’s ball from every tournament win is 100 percent accurate. Balls, gloves, clubs, and pictures of JT fill the Harmony Landing golf shop. It’s like the Gaylord Focker shrine except instead of being for a male nurse who is mediocre at sports, it’s for a millionaire who is the 2nd-ranked golfer in the world.
Mike greets us at the counter to check us in. We can tee off whenever we like, he says. Have fun. He is late for a lesson and leaves the shop promptly. By the time we get to the fourth hole, our group is held up momentarily on the tee by a mower. It’s Mike. How’re we hitting em? Hope we are enjoying the course, he says. As we make our way down the 9th fairway, adjacent to us is Mike Thomas, picking range balls. What doesn’t this guy do?
Growing up under the watchful eye of his father and grandfather, Justin’s only real “swing coach” has been his dad. And much like the enigma that is Augusta National, the environment that raised him is a wonderful balance. A perfect harmony of rigid, well put togetherness and blue collar mentality and dedication.
A chance at history
14 wins, 1 PGA championship, a Player’s Championship, and a FedEx Cup later, Thomas has racked up a Hall of Fame-worthy career at the ripe age of 27. However, a win at the 83rd Masters could catapult him to the upper echelon of stardom.
There are plenty of players who have won a major but never risen to that level again. However, only seven active players (including Champions Tour member Phil Mickelson) have multiple major wins. Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson. That’s it. There’s a shortlist of current players who can boast Thomas’s credentials.
If Thomas wants to join an elite group, the opportunity has never been better than it is right now. His game has never been in a better spot. He has finished in the top 15 of every tournament but one this season, including winning the coveted title of PLAYERS Champion.
Thomas is 5th on Tour in strokes gained tee-to-green, 3rd in strokes gained on approach to green, and 14th in strokes gained around the green. He is trending the right direction at The Masters as a whole. In 2017, he finished tied for 22nd. He finished tied for 17th in 2018, tied for 12th in 2019, and in solo 4th place last year.
On Tuesday, he credited his play at Augusta to his mentors like Tiger Woods and Fred Couples.
“I’m very, very lucky that I somehow got thrown into that practice-round group with Tiger and Freddie the last four years or whatever it is, especially around this place, I just follow them around like puppy dogs.”
Thomas took the course Tuesday with fellow major champions Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy. He’ll do the same with Couples on Wednesday.
The timing feels right. The groundwork has been laid. For a Louisville kid that finds himself 8 hours from his birthplace, Thomas has likely never felt more at home on golf’s grandest stage.
Playing the odds with Meyer and Conner
After eight decades of playing the Masters the second week of April, COVID-19 forced Augusta National to do the unthinkable and push the tournament back to November in 2020. Now, back in its rightful place and time, I enlisted the help of Nick Conner from the Back to the Bricks Podcast to break down the field for the 84th Masters Tournament.
Top 10 Lock
Nick: Jordan Spieth
Welcome back to the Spieth Train…some of us never left. Spieth finally broke his almost four-year drought on Sunday with his win at the Texas Valero Open after lurking for the last two months. Jordy is back to his iron wizardry and his putter is due for a hot week just in time for one of his favorite courses. Augusta is a course Jordan can handle without his best stuff, and Spieth is back to looking like the 2015 Masters Champion. While I’d love to see him win, I’d be shocked if he isn’t in the mix on the weekend.
Presley: Tony Finau
It is absolutely mind-boggling that Tony Finau has never won a PGA Tour event. Especially when you consider that the 31-year-old has finished in the top 10 in seven of his last 11 majors. That is an elite number right there. While Finau hasn’t finished atop the leaderboard on tour, he is considered one of the better tee-to-green players in the world. His first two cracks at Augusta saw him finish 10th and 5th, with the fifth-place finish coming on a severely sprained ankle. Simply put, Finau is a gamer who plays his best on the biggest stage. It’s only a matter of time before he breaks through, but in the meantime, he feels like the safest bet to finish in the top 10.
Darkhorse candidate
Nick: Corey Conners
Augusta is a ball striker’s paradise and if you want a fantastic iron player, look no further than the red-hot Canadian. Conners has been in the mix quite a bit recently (14th at Valero, 7th at the Players, 3rd at the API). Conners is hovering around the 80/1 mark to win the tournament and doesn’t fall into the household names that many of the uninformed betting public will be on this week. If Conners can keep the flat stick in check, I expect him to be in the mix.
Presley: Lee Westwood
Death, taxes, and Lee Westwood posting a great score on day 1 of The Masters. Now that we have Featured Group coverage on Thursday and Friday, it feels like hearing Westwood’s name atop the leaderboard on Thursday is as synonymous with The Masters as Kenny Loggins and Jim Nantz’s soothing voice. Westwood was leading after three rounds in the Arnold Palmer and The Players in back-to-back weeks. The ageless wonder became known for his consistency at the height of his career. However, he posted two second-place finishes at big-time tournaments sandwiched between missed cuts. Somehow, he always manages to find his form at Augusta National, where he hasn’t missed a cut and has posted 7 top 11 finishes since 2006.
Gambling play of the week
Top Former Winner: Jordan Spieth +225
To use a Brooks Koepka analogy, Spieth only has to beat around 20 (in this case 17) guys to cash the ticket. DJ and Sergio are the only real threats here, but I’ll ride Spieth’s ball-striking and course dominance to the pay window.
Top 20 Finish: Patrick Cantlay -136
Cantlay has never been a sexy name since his emergence on tour, but he is incredibly steady- especially on the weekends. In his three appearances as a professional at The Masters, Cantlay has finished in the top 20 twice, and top 10 once. Although he missed the cut at The Players, he finished 17th or better in his previous 6 tournaments– including a win, a second, and a third-place.
Pick to win
Collin Morikawa 28/1
The reigning PGA Champion is simply a big game hunter. Morikawa continues to be a top 3 iron player in the world and is closer and closer to getting his new putting grip ironed out. Morikawa didn’t do much in November’s edition, but in his second visit to Augusta, he’ll be ready to go. If it’s not Spieth, Bryson, or Rahm, it simply has to be Morikawa this week.
Justin Thomas 11/1
What else is there to say that hasn’t been said? This is a prime opportunity for Thomas as he works toward the height of his career. Augusta sets up perfectly for his length and bevvy of options off the tee. I believe he is the best wedge player in the game right now, and if he chooses the right time to be aggressive, I think this can be a career-defining weekend.
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