PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 15, 2026

Justin Thomas

Aronimink Golf Club

Flash Quotes

Q. Would you call that 1-under better than yesterday's 1-under? How do they kind of compare?

JUSTIN THOMAS: I'm definitely leaving feeling better about it. It's funny how golf is, of shooting 3-under on the front yesterday and 2-over on the back and leaving here feeling like I left a bunch out there was -- I mean, I was still very pleased with the day, but it definitely feels a lot different than being 2-over through 3 today and battling back and shooting whatever, playing, what was it, the last five or six holes or whatever it was a couple under to shoot under par.

So same end result, very different ways to get there. So hopefully just kind of combine the two this weekend.

Q. How many good shots did you hit today that didn't maybe end up in good places, because that can happen here.

JUSTIN THOMAS: For sure. I can't really think of any that I hit how I wanted that went to bad places. Look at a hole like 2, it wasn't a bad wedge by any means, but I just pulled it ever so slightly, and because I pulled it, it just kind of went with the wind as opposed to holding the wind. I missed my number by one, but it went over the green because of that.

So it's just, it's very, you know, you have to hit the right shots or the shots that kind of are being asked, and I've just found that, you know, I feel like you have to have the opportunity to be aggressive or try to make birdies and not try to make them -- just because you have a wedge in your hand doesn't necessarily mean that you're trying to make birdie.

If it's not the right number, the right wind, whatever it may be, it's just really, really hard to scramble and get up-and-down on these greens. So just hitting as many greens as possible has kind of been my philosophy, or trying to.

Q. Technically there's no such thing as an illegal pin but what would you define generally as like a fair pin or an unfair pin?

JUSTIN THOMAS: I would say a lot has to do, when it comes to like an unfair pin, would be wind direction. You have to look at wind direction when it comes to that. You know, if you -- I think if you, trying to think of an example here.

You just have a lot of slope on some of these greens to where you get a hole like 11, say, or 10 -- I mean, 10 and 11 are great examples. That pin today, I think if the wind was blowing the opposite direction in off the left, like it's really hard to use that section because the ball, it's so high, a ball probably, it very easily could just blow to the middle of the green, versus, you know, yesterday and today it was kind of on areas where the wind, it's not going to have an effect of blowing it off of the green type thing. So I think that has a lot to do with it.

But you just don't want a situation where -- every green speed has a percentage that a ball will not stay. So I would like to think and hope that anybody who is setting a golf course is not going to put a pin in that percentage. So I think kind of combining those two goes into it and making it fair or not.

Q. You've talked about big priority just being getting yourself in contention in the majors. Here you are, we're only halfway, but is there a certain satisfaction in getting yourself to this point, and how did you get here?

JUSTIN THOMAS: A lot of satisfaction for sure. I felt like -- I was very comfortable getting there. I think that's what I'm probably more proud of or happy about than the scores itself was I didn't put any extra pressure on myself these first couple days. I didn't feel like I made this moment bigger than it was.

It's just I really have felt like I'm doing a lot of things well and swinging well and playing well and been putting it well. So just go out and play. It's such -- it sounds so easy when you say it, but it's one of the hardest things to do in this sport, in my opinion.

So I'm very, very pleased and proud of myself for doing that these first couple days and, yeah, just kind of playing what the hole, what the course kind of gives me. So just try to do more of that this weekend.

Q. I want to ask you specifically about that 11th green. It feels like guys have barely just a full wedge in there and not many are putting it close. Just describe the challenge of that specific green, maybe today's pin as well.

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, yesterday that was one of the easiest holes on the course. Even in the rough, downwind, I would argue if any of us in the fairway, if we hit a wedge outside of 15 feet to that pin, that's just a bad wedge shot. I mean, you have a backstop, the ball being downwind, you don't really have to worry about it spinning too much, it's going to stay around there.

But today that pin is just over a slope there, and it's not hard to hit it to 20 feet past the hole, but it's really, really hard to hit it close. I think that's a great example of if you have a great number and a full wedge that you can spin it and hit it close, great. But you don't want to try to do too much and try to hit it close, kind of like I did there this morning, and the wind knocks the ball right out of the air and doesn't even come close and I'm grinding to make a 5 when I have a sand wedge in my hand.

So it just kind of speaks volumes to how this course can be throughout the entire day.

Q. On that, how difficult is it to stay patient in those situations when it is so difficult to reach those pins and get it close?

JUSTIN THOMAS: It's very hard, but I think, I mean, it's easier being in the position I've been in, or getting off to a good start yesterday, I think it's a lots easier to be patient when you're under par and around the lead versus if you're 2-, 3-over, I would say that's when it's really hard to be patient. So that's where I'm very proud of myself this morning, being 2-over after 3 and not forcing it, not feeling like I had to birdie every hole to get it back kind of thing.

I've never seen a leaderboard like this in my life, so bunched. And just out of curiosity -- I mean, I know there's not a 10-shot rule here, but I was laughing last night looking at it, it would have been 148 people that wouldn't have made the cut if there was a 10-shot rule. So it just, it's crazy.

It's so hard to -- it can be so hard to make birdies when it's as windy as it was yesterday and this morning. So, yeah, it's hard for anybody to kind of go too crazy when the wind's like that.

Q. We saw you talking to an official. Were you guys put on the clock and what happened there?

JUSTIN THOMAS: We were, yeah. We just didn't really agree with it. It's hard because it's kind of the whole time par thing. What is time par? How can time par on this course be the same when it's blowing 25 and the pins are tough than if it's not? And does time par change every day? There's just so many factors that go into it.

We were behind. I'm not -- I think that wasn't our issue or being annoyed by it, it's just the fact that we weren't holding up the group behind us. They were about -- it seemed like every time we were on the green, they were on the tee and so on and so forth.

The hard part to me with the whole pace of play thing is that you, there's so much that goes into golf and there's so much that goes into hole to hole in terms of, are you hitting it close, are you able to tap it in, or you have to mark it, stuff like that, to where, are you holding the group up or are you not, to where it's very hard to make that call. And we just didn't agree with it, to be honest.

But we got taken off, and a hole later we were caught up. So it kind of goes to our point of why we didn't think we should of, but it is what it is. It's a part of it.

Q. Did you rush at all, did you do anything differently knowing you were on the clock?

JUSTIN THOMAS: No. I backed off on my first shot being on the clock even. It's just, it's so hard out here, and that's the last thing I'm going to do is make a mistake because I feel like I'm rushing.

If we were, for some reason, to get in a position where I was getting, we were getting bad times and we were continuing to be on, I would have had more discussions with the rules officials to kind of plead my case. But that was -- it's hard enough -- I'm not going to sit out there and take two minutes, like that's disrespectful to the field and everybody.

But at the same time, I'm not going to -- you know, I'm not going to rush and hit a shot that isn't right. So just kind of went about my business and just was ready to play when it was my turn like I feel like I do normally.

Q. Any specific mental tactic that you relied on today to help you stay patient?

JUSTIN THOMAS: I would say when it gets windy like this, I get very visual. I think that's why I think I play so well in the wind sometimes. It's very specific. The trajectory, and kind of the apex of the ball for it to go the distance you want. And I just feel like I use my eyes a lot of kind of where it's starting, where it's coming down. As it comes down how far will it move when it gets on the green. Am I using a slope, am I going against a slope. Do I have room on this side, that side, so on, so forth. And I feel like I'm able to get very specific and artsy and kind of painting a picture in my head. So I feel like I just really tried to do that each and every shot today.