First it looked like a stroll in the park for Justin Thomas at the Tournament of Champions.
Then it wasn’t.
The 23-year-old Thomas looked ready to cruise on Sunday to his third PGA Tour victory and his first on U.S. soil. With just five holes left in the Tournament of Champions, Thomas had piled up a five-shot lead at Kapalua’s Plantation Course.
Then it turned into a dog fight, a battle of wills and shot-making between two young stars on the PGA Tour.
Thomas birdied the 13th to go 22-under a full five shots clear of playing partner Hideki Matsuyama. Then the Japanese star shook things up when he pitched in for an eagle two from just off the green at the par four 14th, the same hole Thomas had eagled on Saturday. That chopped two shots off the Thomas lead.
Then at the par five 15th, the unthinkable happened. From just 217 yards out, Thomas hit a horrible second that found the hazard guarding the left side of the hole. “I botched that hole up. I chunk-hooked a four-iron,” is how Thomas described the wayward shot the would end up with him taking a double-bogey seven and suddenly his five-shot lead was down to one.
Thomas then put it away with an incredible second shot at the difficult par four 17th. At 561-yards it is the longest par four on the PGA Tour. Thomas hit an eight-iron from just outside 200 yards. The downhill shot was playing about 188 yards and Thomas parked his approach just three feet from the hole.
A three-putt by Matsuyama from 25 feet then the birdie conversion for Thomas gave him a comfortable three-shot margin going to the final hole. A closing birdie got Thomas 22-under and a final round 69, three better than Matsuyama at 19.
“I’m coming back here next year. I think it really shows where my game is at,” said Thomas.
The duel down the stretch came as expected between the players in the final pairing.
Jordan Spieth staged a final-day rally, shooting an eight-under par 65 that tied the week’s low round and earned him a tie for third at 16-under par with Pat Perez and Ryan Moore.
U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson’s 15-under total earned him a tie for sixth while the world’s No. 1 — Jason Day shot 13-under and was tied for 12th.
