Justin Thomas has now done was only two others have done on the PGA Tour.
Johnny Miller won three of his first five events to open his PGA Tour campaigns in 1974 and 1975.
Tiger Woods has done it three times — 2003, 2008 and 2013.
Now Thomas joins that elite, very small list.
After Sunday’s record-setting victory at Waialae, Thomas has started his year like a rocket, winning three of his first five, climbing to No. 8 in the Official World Golf Rankings and taking over the FedEx Cup lead in the process from the other hot-starter — Hideki Matsuyama.
In the process, he’s also won nearly $4 million, already!
Here’s the scary part as told by J.T. on Saturday at Waialae:
“I definitely haven’t shown the world my best golf. I haven’t even shown the world great golf or consistent great golf. I think I’m getting more confident and I’m improving too. I’m doing a lot of hard work with my dad and my putting coach Matt Killen this offseason to work on my weaknesses. I think I’m just trending up and hopefully wanting to show everyone in the world what I have.”
As if he didn’t show enough over the past two weeks. He out-played and out-lasted Hideki Matsuyama at the Tournament of Champions, a major task in and of itself. Then he left no doubt as he made shambles of the first full-field event of 2017 by wiping out the rest of the players at the Sony Open with a record-setting 253 total for 72 holes that included a stunning 59 to open play last Thursday.
If Justin Thomas has more than that, this could get real interesting in a hurry.
Jordan Spieth is one of Thomas’ best friends on tour, and he’s the same age –23. Spieth had his own observations about Thomas following the Sony win:
“He’s gone through the process and moved up the totem pole. J.T.’s got it rolling now and he’s gonna be a tough guy to stop this year.”
Moving up that “totem pole” will land Thomas inside the world’s Top 10 this week at No. 8 as he moves closer to his pal Spieth.
Thomas says it’s all about getting into contention on a regular basis. “I now feel comfortable once I get in contention,” he confirmed.
Thomas has all the tools to become a consistent performer, you look at him right now, at this moment and no one is playing better than him, certainly not No. 1 Jason Day, No. 2 Rory McIlroy or No. 3 Dustin Johnson.
He certainly has the tools. He is incredibly long off the tee. He hit driver then a nine-iron into the par five 18th at Waialae on Sunday. He can peel off drives that go 350 or farther. He hits good iron shots, scrambles well and you don’t shoot 27-under par without being able to make a lot of putts.
Add it all up and this Thomas kid could be the next big thing.
But it takes more than a couple of wins in Malaysia and a couple of wins in the islands to become the next big thing.
There are four majors on tap this season with The Masters coming up quickly in April followed by the U.S. Open at Erin Hills, the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale then the PGA at redesigned Quail Hollow.
You figure Thomas might find one of those to his liking.
He says his game fits well at Augusta. “I’m really excited for The Masters,” he said on Sunday.
He should be, especially if he plays anywhere near the level he’s shown the past two weeks.
Last year at Augusta National he managed just eight birdies all week, shot 10-over and tied for 39th.
But the player we’ve seen the past two months looks like a different guy.
Maybe a little Tigeresque.
Don’t you think?
