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Players Championship: For Justin Thomas, patience pays at TPC Sawgrass
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- Players Championship: For Justin Thomas, patience pays at TPC Sawgrass
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
Every time Justin Thomas steps onto Pete Dye 's pitfall-packed Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, he remembers.
In Ponte Vedra, patience pays.
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"You could be standing on a hole like on 8 and you're like, well, I got a par-5 in No. 9 and then I have a short iron on [10] and then another par-5 on 11 and then a short hole at 12," he said Tuesday. "And you're thinking, 'I have some birdie opportunities,' and next thing you know, you can make a couple bogeys or even doubles pretty quickly by getting ahead of yourself."
Victor at The Players Championship four years ago , Thomas has learned the value of patience when it comes time for the PGA Tour's annual flagship competition.
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Justin Thomas speaks during the Tuesday press conference for The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on March 11, 2025. [Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union]
Last year, Thomas got an up-close view of Scottie Scheffler 's run to the first-ever repeat championship at The Players. For Thomas, Scheffler's driving success is the key to his TPC Sawgrass success, and more than anything else, it's what he hopes to duplicate this week.
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"Driving the ball is a premium because you have a lot of scoring clubs and four par-5s and birdie opportunities," Thomas said. "So getting it in play off the tee, and then from there really just taking each hole and each shot for what it's worth."
Justin Thomas: Ups and downs at The Players Championship
Now in his 10th visit to The Players , Thomas is used to the twists and turns of the Pete Dye-designed course.
He celebrated victory in the tournament's return from the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, going 64-68 on the weekend to score a 14-under 274 for a one-stroke triumph ahead of Lee Westwood.
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But he's also learned that the wrong mental approach at this course can turn small problems into big ones.
"Your ball can just go to a lot of weird places here," he said on Tuesday. "I just think over time you're going to have some years where it, honestly, you just get really unlucky."
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Since his $2.7 million payday in 2021, it's been a rockier experience on the First Coast for Thomas. He tied for 33rd with only one round under par in 2022, slipped to a tie for 60th in 2023 and missed the cut entirely last spring, undone by a second-round 74.
Justin Thomas plays his shot from the 16th tee during the first round of The Players Championship in 2024.
While the first spot on the leaderboard has eluded Thomas since his victory at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in 2022, he's inching closer to the top. He enters the week 14th in FedEx Cup points and 15th on the Tour money list.
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His last five tournaments on the Tour have netted him three top-10 finishes at The American Express, the WM Phoenix Open and the Genesis Invitational. But last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill spiraled into a weekend of frustration, 74-76. Finishing his most recent Florida stop, Justin Thomas was no happy camper.
"I don't think there's any courses we play that make you just want to, like, pry your own hair out or hit yourself with a club more than that place [Bay Hill]," he said.
With four more days of Ponte Vedra patience, Thomas has a chance to join Scheffler, Jack Nicklaus, Hal Sutton, Davis Love III, Fred Couples, Steve Elkington and Tiger Woods as multiple champions at The Players.
No hair-prying necessary.
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"You have to be in the right state of mind. You have to be very patient. You have to be accepting at a place like this," he said. "It's obviously easier said than done."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Players Championship 2025: Justin Thomas, 2021 winner at TPC Sawgrass
