PGA Championship: Justin Thomas finds signs of progress in game ahead of title defense at Oak Hill

Justin Thomas insists he can see “light at the end of the tunnel” in his own game as he looks to end a frustrating streak of results in his PGA Championship title defense.

The former world No. 1 ended a 14-month winless streak when he overturned a seven-stroke deficit in the final round of last year’s contest to snatch a spectacular play-off victory, although he has struggled for consistency since winning the Wanamaker Trophy for a second. times last May.

Thomas has only managed two top-10 finishes in his 10 starts so far this year on the PGA Tour and fell to 15th in the world, his lowest ranking since 2017, with the American stuttering to a 60th tied place at The Players and missing the cup at the Masters.

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Who will impress at the PGA Championship? Watch all four rounds live from Oak Hill Country Club on Sky Sports Golf

The 30-year-old was a midway shot at the Wells Fargo Championship earlier this month before fading to a share of 14th after rounds of 70 and 71 this weekend, with Thomas encouraged by what he saw before this week’s appearance. at Oak Hill.

“I felt like I showed a lot of really good signs in Charlotte,” Thomas said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I think Saturday was a great example. It was just a lap where I didn’t really have much. I felt like I left a few knocks there and just wasn’t clear.

Justin Thomas is a 15-time PGA Tour winner

“I was hitting a lot of very poor wedges and irons. I birdied two of the last four holes and salvaged a sub-par game on a tough golf course. Bone [caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay] and I said on the 18th green that’s what we haven’t done this year.

“I felt like that 70 I shot that day was a round I shot 73 and 74 which then gave me the opportunity to play myself in contention with nine holes to play, when I wouldn’t have been like that before.

“He wasn’t making that putt to keep or get momentum or hitting the corners up close, making those two, three, four birdies in a row. I felt like in Charlotte, I really, like, turned the corner a bit to see more or score better.

Historic week ahead for Thomas?

Brooks Koepka and Tiger Woods are the only players from the stroke play era to successfully defend their PGA Championship title, while Thomas can match that feat and become the sixth player to win the event three or more times.

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The best of the action from the 2022 PGA Championship Final Round in Southern Hills, where Justin Thomas scored an unlikely win

“How I described it for a few months is that I never felt so far and so close at the same time,” Thomas added. “It’s a very difficult thing to explain, and it’s also a very difficult way to try to compete and win a golf tournament.

“That’s how you get by, just playing to get by and hitting shots when you want to and making those putts when you need to. Then your confidence goes up and the next thing you know, you can’t even remember what you were thinking back then.

“The way you learn is failure and negatives, and I feel like I’ve had a great opportunity to learn a lot in the past, whatever, six months, a few months, this year. I I feel like I told Charlotte a bit, I’m starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Watch the 105th PGA Championship all week long live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins Thursday from 1pm on Sky Sports Golf.