Justin Thomas played some really impressive golf during the first two rounds of the PGA Championship at Aronimink this week.
Thomas has posted two rounds of 69 to set himself up perfectly for the weekend at Aronimink.
However, the 32-year-old’s second round at the PGA Championship did not pass without incident.
Thomas, Keegan Bradley and Cam Young were warned by officials midway through their second round at Aronimink about their pace of play.
Interestingly, Justin Thomas complained about slow play at the PGA Championship on Thursday, and things certainly didn’t improve on Friday.
And the 16-time PGA Tour winner did not seem happy at all when he was accosted by rules officials on day two at the PGA Championship.
Justin Thomas unhappy after slow play warning at the Aronimink
Thomas addressed the media after his second-round 69 at Aronimink on Thursday.
And he responded when asked if he was put on the clock and what was said between him and the PGA of America official on the 11th hole of their round.
“We were, yeah,“ the American said.
“We just didn’t really agree with it. It’s hard because it’s kind of the whole time par thing. What is time par? How can time par on this course be the same when it’s blowing 25 and the pins are tough than if it’s not? And does time par change every day? There’s just so many factors that go into it.
“We were behind. I’m not — I think that wasn’t our issue or being annoyed by it, it’s just the fact that we weren’t holding up the group behind us. They were about — it seemed like every time we were on the green, they were on the tee and so on and so forth.
“The hard part to me with the whole pace of play thing is that you, there’s so much that goes into golf and there’s so much that goes into hole to hole in terms of, are you hitting it close, are you able to tap it in, or you have to mark it, stuff like that, to where, are you holding the group up or are you not, to where it’s very hard to make that call. And we just didn’t agree with it, to be honest.
“But we got taken off, and a hole later we were caught up. So it kind of goes to our point of why we didn’t think we should of, but it is what it is. It’s a part of it.“
He then responded when asked whether he rushed his shots after being put on the clock.
“No. I backed off on my first shot being on the clock even,“ Thomas said.
“It’s just, it’s so hard out here, and that’s the last thing I’m going to do is make a mistake because I feel like I’m rushing.
“If we were, for some reason, to get in a position where I was getting, we were getting bad times and we were continuing to be on, I would have had more discussions with the rules officials to kind of plead my case. But that was — it’s hard enough — I’m not going to sit out there and take two minutes, like that’s disrespectful to the field and everybody.
“But at the same time, I’m not going to — you know, I’m not going to rush and hit a shot that isn’t right. So just kind of went about my business and just was ready to play when it was my turn like I feel like I do normally.“
Justin Thomas’ PGA Championship stats through two rounds
Thomas’ ball-striking has been very impressive so far this week.
He’s ranked 39th in strokes gained off the tee and 14th in strokes gained approach through two rounds at Aronimink.
Thomas is ranked 17th in strokes gained tee-to-green and 21st in strokes gained putting.
Strangely, though, his one weak link has been his chipping and putting – a part of the game where he usually excels.
Justin Thomas is ranked 116th in that particular category so far this week at the PGA Championship.
If he tidies up his short game this week, he could very well leave Aronimink as a three-time major champion.