Justin Thomas: Schedule Proves Tough Challenge in 2019

Justin Thomas has checked off many of his goals over the last two seasons, but the new PGA TOUR schedule is proving to be a unique challenge for him as the 2019 campaign begins.

Justin Thomas, a former champion at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, is still working his way though the new PGA Tour schedule for 2018-2019.

“I don’t think, a lot of the tournaments that I played, I don’t think are going to change too much,” he said. But there will be enough of a change to give him a brain cramp from time to time.

The new PGA Tour schedule, for those who have not looked at it, moves The Players to March, finishing on St. Patrick’s Day. It also moves the PGA Championship to May, where The Players used to be, and moves the Tour Championship to finish before Labor Day.  That means some tournaments will not be held when they were previously held. Some will likely move to the fall, post-Labor Day schedule. Those fall events, which will start the 2020 season, have not been announced yet.

The changes affect planning and preparation for big tournaments, particularly for the best players.  Justin Thomas definitely falls into that category.

“It will be a little different having different conditions for a tournament like The Players or — I’ve never played it that time of year, so it could be, it’s just going to be very different than what I’ve been accustomed to,” Thomas explained. “In the past I’ve even gone there Tuesday just because I know the course, I know what it’s going to be like, but I may have to get there earlier now and test that out.”

Unless there’s a prolonged warm spell in March, the conditions will definitely more severe at The Players in March than they were in May.  It could be earmuffs and ski hats.  Or it could be SPF 70 sunscreen.  You just never know.

The change in timing could also affect pre-tournament prep for the PGA Championship.

“The PGA, I might not want to get there too early,” Thomas noted. “That time of year you might get some cold days up in the north.”

In the past, there were cold and rainy days in June, as experienced in U.S. Opens at Bethpage Black in 2002, won by Tiger Woods, and 2009, won by Lucas Glover. So, what are the chances of it being nice in May? Could be a challenge.

But the biggest tournaments are not the only calendar challenges for PGA Tour players in 2019. Some tournaments aren’t there anymore. Like the WGC Bridgestone, where Justin Thomas would be the defending champion.

“Any place that you win you obviously enjoy, but there’s not, that’s just another — especially my grandparents it’s another tournament they could come to — but I’ve always loved that golf course, and I thought that it fit my game so well,” Thomas said about not being able to play at Firestone CC for the WGC.  “Although I didn’t play very well the first two years, I was happy to finally get some success on it and now it’s gone.”

However, he is hopeful that the course in Memphis, where the WGC Fed-Ex event will be played, will be good to him, too.

“I’ve heard it’s a terrific course and a ball-striker’s course so I’m hoping to have a good chance to defend there. But, yeah, I’ll always miss Akron,” he added wistfully.

As far as picking up some events, Thomas said he has five or six he would like to play, but they don’t or haven’t worked into the schedule for him.

"“I would hope tournament directors understand that,” he said. “A perfect example in the past has been the Wyndham. I think the Wyndham is one of the greatest events that the Tour puts on, and they’re such a great, it’s such an old event, they go back so long, playing there at Sedgefield, and I love the golf course. (Mark) Brazil puts on an unbelievable event.”"

But then he added what has been the reality of recent PGA Tour seasons for the top players.

"“In the past, going, it went Akron, PGA, Wyndham and then playoffs, and it’s like you just can’t play six, seven in a row,” he explained, not even mentioning Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, which typically follow. “So that’s always been an event where it’s like if that was in the middle of the summer, maybe I would play or something. I know you said not to name events but that’s one in the past where I would have loved to play along with a lot of other events, just the schedule and the timing doesn’t work out.”"

As Thomas said, there will be adjustments this year and next as players figure out where they will need to go and match that with where they want to go.

An example for Thomas is that it’s impossible to think of him skipping the Honda Classic because it’s at home, and he’s won the event.  Then interject the schedule.

He will likely qualify for all the WGC events, but can he play the WGC Mexico, Honda, the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and The Players all in a row? Except for Mexico, there’s very little travel, but at least three of those events have courses that require good execution and great shots, and that’s tiring; I have no direct knowledge of the Mexico course other than what’s televised.

If Justin Thomas plays those four – again, a pretty big ask – will he play Pebble Beach and LA, The Genesis Open with Tiger Woods as host? Will he skip Bay Hill? Will he skip the WGC-Mexico? As they say in Europe, spoilt for choice.

While Thomas agrees it’s an adjustment, he’s philosophical about it.

“It’s definitely taken more thought, just because of the difference of it, getting accustomed to the order that it’s in,” he said. “But a couple years goes by, and it will be normal.”