2021 Masters: Justin Thomas’ Masters dream shatters on one hole

Justin Thomas was a popular pick by many this week to don the green jacket come week’s end, but that dream was shattered after he self-destructed on one hole during moving day at the 2021 Masters.

The 2021 PLAYERS Champion started his third round on Saturday well within reach of the leaders and sitting just three shots back of the lead, and things were looking up for the World number two after starting his round with two birdies through his first three holes.

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Thomas even made his way through the difficult three-hole stretch of holes 4,5, and 6 relatively unscathed with his only blemish coming at the PAR 4 5th on what was playing as the most difficult hole on the course on Saturday.

Justin would come to rue a missed opportunity on the PAR 5 8th hole after he had given himself a birdie look from within ten feet after pitching his third from just off the green. With the wind ramping up and storm clouds rolling in Thomas pushed his birdie putt just left of the hole.

Tournament play was stopped on his next hole after he had left himself with a test to save his PAR on the PAR 4 9th. It was always going to be a tricky spot to resume action, with Thomas needing to drain a nine-footer to save his PAR and remain within touch of the leaders.

Some 45 plus minutes later the horn sounded once more and the third round got back underway with Justin looking dejected before he had even resumed his third round. Prior to the action continuing Thomas could be seen shaking his head as if to suggest that he was displeased with his position before even attempting the PAR putt, the subsequent putt was missed and he dropped another shot as he made his way to the back nine.

The moment proved critical as the 27-year-old who was in search this week of his second Major win never really recovered. Thomas was once more in trouble after an errant drive to start Amen corner resulted in another dropped shot as he sunk to three under PAR for the week.

Then came the iconic PAR 3 12th hole, a difficult hole that provided a brief moment of hope for Justin as he went on to birdie the 12th after a terrific iron shot into the tiny green. Thomas was back to four-under for the event and at the time was once more within three shots of the lead.

The closing hole to Amen Corner proved to be the end of Thomas’s Masters dreams

It seemed as if the birdie on the 12th would spark Justin’s push up the leaderboard with the very gettable PAR 5 13th coming up, but instead what resulted was an absolute nightmare that single-handily destroyed any dreams of winning the green jacket this year.

Thomas looked to have been struggling a bit off the tee ever since the restart after the rain delay, and once more this proved to be the case as he hooked his drive way right off the tee. Justin punched out back into the fairway with his second before making one of the biggest mistakes of his tournament with his next shot.

Holding no more than a wedge for his third shot Justin hit perhaps the worse shot of his week as he came up short of the green and found the tributary hazard that surrounds the 13th green resulting in a penalty stroke as his ball was washed away.

Justin was unable to shake the mistake off and instead compounded his error with his following shots before finally walking away with a triple bogey and a result that decidedly ended his hopes this week.

A day that had started with so much hope ended in disaster for Justin on Saturday and whether it was the rain-stoppage earlier in the round or not that played a factor in all of this, one thing is certain, there will be no green jacket for Thomas in 2021.