At Glance
‣ Justin Thomas experienced a significant downturn in his performance during the third round of the Valspar Championship, carding an eight-over-par 79, which was marked by his worst ever putting display, including a total of 38 putts.
‣ Despite starting the round tied for the lead, Thomas’s difficulties on the green, including multiple missed putts from short distances and a notable double bogey at the seventh hole after a near 360° miss from two feet, dramatically dropped him to 66th place.
‣ This round was characterized as the worst putting round of Thomas’s career, with him not making a single putt outside of three feet throughout the day and losing over seven strokes on the green, highlighting a stark contrast to his performance in the previous days where he holed 27 putts.
Justin Thomas was tied for the lead midway through Friday’s round but just shot a 79 to finish T66 on Moving Day at the Valspar
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf)
The third round of the Valspar Championship was shaping up to be a nail-biter. You had both the seasoned pros and the newbies all vying for the top spot at the Copperhead Course. And in the thick of this crowded leaderboard? Justin Thomas. After a rough 2023, he was back in form, making him a solid bet for the win.
But, oh boy, did things take a turn for Thomas. Right after a promising start with a birdie, the day just spiraled. He ended up with an eight-over-par 79. Yep, you read that right. And his putting? Let’s just say it was a day he’d rather forget, with a staggering 38 putts.
So, what went down? Well, after a three-putt disaster from 25-feet on the second hole, Thomas missed a six-footer at the third. And it didn’t stop there. More short putts refused to drop, with the seventh hole being particularly cruel. After missing a par putt from 10-feet, he tried to salvage a bogey from two-feet. Nope. The ball did a near 360° on him. Just like that, he was five shots off the pace.
The misery didn’t let up. Thomas bogeyed both the eighth and ninth, with a missed four-foot putt on the eighth just to twist the knife. By the end of the front nine, he was sitting at even-par for the tournament. The back nine? More of the same. Bogies on the 10th, 12th, and 14th led to another 38 strokes and that eight-over 79.
Imagine, from tying for the lead to finishing T66 on Moving Day. Talk about a rough day at the office. And to add insult to injury, this round marked the worst putting performance of his career. He didn’t sink a single putt over three feet. The longest putt he made all day was a mere 2’9″!
For those keeping score, Thomas had been consistent with 27 putts on both Thursday and Friday. Then Saturday happened, and he lost over seven strokes on the greens, the worst in the field. What a turn of events, huh?
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