Justin Thomas is back on the leaderboard – but will it last?

ETROON, Scotland – All these guys are on tour, you know. Rory McIlroy has been very public, 10 years and counting. Bryson DeChambeau is one, learning a thing or two about maturity. Bob MacIntyre’s journey to leave Scotland and return – culminated last week. But what about Justin Thomas’ journey?

Twelve months ago, the 31-year-old was busy hitting 82 strokes around Royal Liverpool, a golf course he calls rock bottom. He was trying hard, he said at the time, being forced to hear questions about his health, about using his father as a coach, about his Ryder Cup status. The journey from there to Thursday, where he scored his best score of the morning – a three-under 68 – is not so easy for him to explain.

“I don’t know,” Thomas said Thursday. “I just do, I can say, everything is better.”

There is a lot of truth in that answer, basic as it may be. He drives it better, approaches the green better, rubs it better, and putsts the same.

“I couldn’t even tell you what I was thinking and how it was at that moment,” said Thomas. “I’m worried about how I’m doing now, and I’m very happy with my game and I know that things continue to work out. I have to keep trying to play well.”

Okay then – forget the last 12 months. Let’s talk about the last seven days, when Thomas was in this exact position, on top of the leaderboard after 18 holes. He was an archer, happy to enter the debates at the Scottish Open: TV station to TV station to radio station to radio station to write in a social media clip filmed by phone. The gear thugs were looking over that new putter of his that did everything. When you play good golf, attention follows. If you don’t play well, attention goes away. Check out the highlights from round two…

… By Ludwig Aberg.

By the time Thomas finished two shots the next morning, he was six behind Åberg. By the time he finished dinner on Saturday night, he had doubled up 12 times. Thomas encouraged him to “get nothing out of his rounds” despite hitting a good shot – blaming the hidden-from-plain-sight misfortunes of the golf links.

“I felt like on Saturday I hit it in the first six overs, and it was a weird length,” he said. “It’s the same here where you have to guess if it’s going to jump, if it’s going to spin, and I’m sure I was oh-fer six of those.

“It’s just little things like this that you obviously don’t see as an outsider or someone else really when you look at the scorecard but when I play outside, I feel like I’m really hitting a high level.” shoot or drive and get nothing out of it.”

We may not be there to track every lie he’s faced, but this is a two-time major champion and 15-time tour winner. We could ignore him. We followed the sorrow of putting. And his release of the ball. We were watching that last year at Hoylake, even 81 at the US Open last month. We listened when he almost went out to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. We debated his merits as Ryder Cup captain, and analyzed extensively whether his 1-2-1 record in Rome warrants it.

While his 2024 year started on a high note, golf fans started betting on Thomas again. Here he comes. Even the doubters were there when he missed second place at the Masters. But when he started the tournament under 11 holes, most of us were happy. Why? Because we all want to believe in those scorecards these guys are turning in after what appears to be a high-profile round. We want to know if the 68 in the wind and rain feels as meaningful as it might for someone looking for his first win in three years. When you start consecutive tournaments with better scores than anyone else, we want to wonder – just as Thomas might – – if this odyssey of ups and downs is about to end.

The way he talks, Thomas must see it as a journey, too. Thursday, he said shut up. He approaches whatever feels right to him. About getting golf links. Last week was part of it. Last year it was, too. Same with whatever awaits him tomorrow.