The Masters 2020: Justin Thomas can receive green jacket from friend and hero on Sunday

A victory on Sunday at the Masters could be extra special for Justin Thomas this week

Justin Thomas was fielding questions on Tuesday as part of his pre-event interview and while the focus should have been on him, he instead was subjected to answering several questions about the big-hitting Bryson DeChambeau as is most of the golfing world at this moment in time.

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Thomas was asked about his practice partner from earlier in the week almost as soon as he sat down for the interview on Tuesday and was questioned about the advantage he felt Bryson had and whether he himself felt the need to conform his body to replicate the supreme strength that DeChambeau now possesses, to this Justin responded:

"“I have zero desire to put on 50 or 40 pounds. I could put on 10 and it would be a good 10 pounds, but I mean, I don’t need to hit it 370 yards or 340 yards in the air to win every tournament.”"

The world number 3 is right, if he plays to the best of his ability he is just as capable of winning the Masters this week, in fact over a minimum of 10 rounds played nobody has been as good at hitting greens in regulation at the Masters as Justin Thomas.

Sure being able to crush the ball further than the competition has obvious advantages but it does not mean that nobody else has a chance to win this week as Justin Thomas rightfully stated   when asked for a second time about DeChambeau on the matter saying:

"“No offense to him, but he’s not winning every tournament he’s playing in, so it’s clearly not too much of a disadvantage [to not hit as far as DeChambeau],”"

The 27-year-old surely is not going under the radar coming into this week, but with much of the golfing world focused on the U.S. Open winner Bryson and his insane distance off the tee, you could be forgiven for thinking that maybe Thomas was coming in a bit overlooked, he certainly is being overshadowed if his pre-tournament presser is anything to go off of.

Justin Thomas will begin his Masters late  Thursday morning alongside Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick and four-time major winner Brooks Koepka with Thomas’s previous results at Augusta National gradually improving in each of his last four starts with a 39th in 2016, a 22nd in 2017, a 17th in 2018 and a 12th last year.

Coming off of winning his second PGA of America’s player of the year award back in September illustrates the type of form that the world number 3 has exhibited throughout the 2019-20 season. Justin Thomas won three times this past year and is coming off a runner-up finish in his last start prior to the Masters.

Justin has spent the past couple of Masters playing practice rounds prior to the event alongside Fred Couples and his close friend and mentor Tiger Woods and this week was no different. This pre-tournament experience surely has been beneficial to Thomas over the years and likely has contributed to his growing knowledge and performance around Augusta National. Although he teased in his presser earlier that:

"“Tiger is less willing to give me information then Freddie is, i know that if i ask Freddie he’ll answer where as Tiger this week probably won’t answer”."

Regardless it’s been well documented about the relationship between Justin Thomas and Tiger and this relationship culminated at the president’s cup last December when playing as part of a foursome with team captain Woods he sunk the winning putt on the 18th hole that helped guide Team USA to victory.

In addition, Thomas watched his childhood hero and friend win the Masters last year in spectacular fashion and he was quoted saying “I think I  have watched the celebration of him hugging his kids and his mom so many times”                 

Bryson will capture the majority of the headlines this week for one reason or another regardless of how he finishes on Sunday, but perhaps one of the more intriguing narratives revolves around Justin Thomas this week.

Justin is in as great of form as anybody and he has gradually improved every year at Augusta, and should he find a way to win his second major and the first autumn Masters, it could be extra special for him with his hero and friend placing the green jacket upon his shoulders come Sunday.