Justin Thomas shines as on-course commentator at “The Match”

Justin Thomas was outstanding as a commentator at “The Match”

While the players were obviously the center of attention at Sunday’s “The Match: Champions for Charity”, there was another participant who stood out during the competition. Serving as an on-course reporter, Justin Thomas stood out for several reasons during the TNT broadcast.

The match itself was quite competitive, with the team of Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning topping the duo of Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady 1-up. The match was played in some tough conditions, as rain hampered the players all day long.

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First, Thomas was able to get access to the competitors due to the format of the event. That was an advantage that most on-course reporters do not get on a regular basis, so Thomas had a bit of an advantage there.

However, it was what Thomas did with that access that was most impressive. His ability to draw specific comments out of the players was impressive, especially the way he worked with Mickelson and Woods. Thomas knew that Mickelson would like to give a technical answer, especially when Thomas asked him about his greenside chip on the second hole and Mickelson went into a long answer about trajectory and spin and how the ball would skid on the wet grass.

Thomas was also able to get a somewhat stoic Tiger Woods to talk more than he might have otherwise

Woods was clearly focused on winning yesterday, especially after losing to Mickelson in the original match two years ago. However, Thomas got Woods to open up a little bit because of how well he knows Woods.

While engaging the pros, Thomas was also able to work with, and take shots at, the quarterbacks. On the second hole, after Mickelson chipped to within a foot, Thomas told Tom Brady “Tom, even you can make that one, dude.”

Brady struggled through the first six holes before he holed out from the fairway on the seventh hole for a birdie. Thomas said to Brady “welcome to the match, TB.”

Thomas also had plenty of jokes for TNT analyst Charles Barkley. With the quarterbacks teeing off on the second hole, with a bush right in front of the tee box, Thomas said to Barkley “Chuck you think you’re carrying that little shrub there when you’re playing from that back tee?”

Thomas is just 27 years old and has a long career ahead of him on the PGA Tour. But once he’s done, if he would like to be an on-course commentator for a living, he proved on Sunday that he definitely has a future in that field.