Justin Thomas already 'on to the next one' after Honda Classic victory
Steve DiMeglio
MEXICO CITY — After beating the fading light and Luke List in a playoff Sunday to win the Honda Classic — the seventh title in his last 30 PGA Tour starts — Justin Thomas and some family and friends celebrated at Tiger Woods' restaurant in Jupiter, Fla, appropriately named The Woods Jupiter.
On Monday, the reigning PGA Tour player of the year moved to No. 3 in the official world rankings, the highest ranking of his young career. He also played in the Seminole Golf Club's Pro-Member in Juno Beach, one of the most star-studded events in golf that attracted four of the top 5 players in the world.
Then he boarded a plane to fly to the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship. En route, he apologized in a series of tweets and said he overreacted when he had an unruly heckler removed from the golf course during the final round of the Honda Classic.
On Tuesday, he was at Club de Golf Chapultepec, which rests 7,800 feet above sea level, putting his Trackman launch monitor to work and dialing in his numbers to get used to the elevation change. Then he went to the gym for an extended workout.
Let down after a big win? Not a chance, for there is no letup in Thomas, not with his high-octane swing or his enthusiastic approach to the next challenge. The University of Alabama alum said he follows the guiding principle of another famous member of the Alabama Crimson Tide family.
"It's crazy to say but it's pretty much forgotten already," Thomas said of his victory in the Honda Classic. "I've always liked what Coach (Nick) Saban says. They have the 24-hour rule at Alabama. They get to enjoy their win and then it's on to the next one. That it's in the past and all you can focus and work on is your process and getting ready for the next event."
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Or the next year. Thomas, 24, came into 2018 off one of the game's greatest seasons, one where he won his first major at the PGA Championship, four other PGA Tour titles and the FedExCup. He also shot 59 in the Sony Open, carded the lowest round in relationship to par in U.S. Open history with a 9-under-par 63 in the third round, and helped lead the U.S. to victory in the Presidents Cup.
But there was no way he was going to relax. Thomas went back to work and has won twice this season and has the No. 1 ranking in his sights. And he knows his game is in a good place and he's in a good place to keep his roll going on the PGA Tour.
Last year in the Mexico Championship, Thomas was the 54-hole leader before Dustin Johnson came rolling in the last round for the victory while Thomas finished in a tie for fifth. Thomas likes the golf course, for it is mindful of a few tracks he played in South America during his Web.com Tour years.
"I'm very excited and very thrilled where my game's at," Thomas said. "I feel like I'm playing very, very well. I feel like I have a lot more control over my game than maybe I did last year. I had more wins obviously coming into this event than last year. But in terms of a consistency factor, just everything is tightened up a lot more, which I really like.
"That is going to propel me to have more chances to win golf tournaments. Whether that's going to happen or not, you never know, that's the crazy and hard part about this game. But all I know is I just need to continue to put in the work and just see what we can do."