Thomas Storms to Second Major Title At Southern Hills

There are different angles through which to observe this week’s major championship. Some commentators decided to focus on Rory, with ‘so near but so far’ style headlines. His Sunday fire was reduced to embers, four under par through five holes, and then finishing with a two-under par 68. It is frustrating, to say the least, that after his Thursday 65, a subsequent three rounds of even par would’ve put him in the Sunday playoff. His ball striking was again phenomenal, and he is so good that it feels like a disappointment when he is not in the final group. Another major top 10 and a cool $400,000 for Mr. McIlroy.

Elsewhere on the first page of the leaderboard, Matt Fitzpatrick confirmed his status as the man to beat in the wind and rain. One has to think that if Sunday had brought Saturday’s weather, Matt would have excelled in the difficulty as he so often does. Brief moments of magic were followed by lackluster shots that led to a final round 73. A T5 finish nonetheless, he has shown that the length of a course will not faze him and smashed a few drives out there on Sunday that bounded past Pereira’s sawn-off stingers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Mito Pereira (@mito_pereira)

Ah. Mito Pereira. How he would love to replay that 72^nd hole. An interesting statistic that came up just to remind us how cruel the fickle game can be, he played 98.6% of the tournament like a major champion. The final hole, he produced a nervous, Scheffler-style gone wrong follow through, and produced a carving slice into the water. It all happened so fast. I was questioning why his caddie allowed driver to be hit, but Mito’s record on the 18^th hole with driver had led to three fairways, two pars, and a birdie up to that point. If it ain’t broke…

Regardless, he produced a fantastic performance that he and his fellow South American golfers should be proud of. A continent with seldom few major champions, Pereira would have been the first from Chile. On a side note, fellow Chilean Joaquin Niemann produced some stellar moments in the commentary booth while rooting for his close friend.

Another close call for @WillZalatoris. 👀 pic.twitter.com/5UWeE1Lmyn

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) May 23, 2022

Will Zalatoris is a fine golfer, and I am sure he will soon become a major champion. His up and down saves at 6 and 8 on Sunday were both miraculous. In a round where pars meant progress, he ground out key saves on the front nine to keep the pressure on Pereira, eventually leading to a situation where Mito’s three shot margin was reduced to nothing.

Zalatoris hung around all day, it was a wild round that was reminiscent of Spieth’s crazy Sunday at Birkdale in 2017. To have a runner-up this week alongside his 2^nd at the Masters, his major stats are already better than most golfers in their entire careers. His putting often lacks authority, but that will come soon enough. Cameron Young fought valiantly alongside his fellow countrymen. A quality player with a good season under his belt so far, I’d argue he never really looked like winning on Sunday, not enough clinical looks at birdie, and a few panicked swings that led to a Sunday 71. He was always near the lead, but had a few chances to ramp up the pressure and didn’t take them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Justin Thomas (@justinthomas34)

It is likely time to discuss the man who beat everyone else! Justin Thomas deserved his win by producing great golf when he needed to. It appeared that he may fall short when he missed birdie on the last for the chance to post six under, but anyone who birdies five of their last ten holes and posts a Sunday 67 deserves a chance to fight again, and that is exactly what Thomas did.

After a shank on the sixth hole, he was some eight shots behind Pereira. It is a testament to his determination that he posted a Sunday 67 and was given the chance to win his second major, which he took with both hands.

Golf did the talking this week, for which I was very glad to see. Perhaps a leaderboard that was full of new names helped avoid the topic of Saudi League or Greg Norman. Cameron Young has never been asked about LIV Golf, and Mito Pereira doesn’t care for a rival league as he chases his first win on this tour. Bubba Watson fell out of contention on Sunday very quickly and has now been ruled out of action for two months with a meniscus tear.

To return to the hot topic, Thomas’ win was a huge point in the bank for the PGA Tour. Thomas is a big name in golf, who has won at least once a season for the past eight years, a man who is close friends with Tiger, who is an advocate of the PGA, and who is not afraid to speak out. After being asked about fellow tour pros who are considering the move to the Saudi rival league, Thomas had simply said ‘If you want to go, go’. Sick of the hype and constant back-and-forth, it was getting in the way of his win tally.

It is a beautiful thing when Thomas then produces a win at the major where Phil Mickelson was supposed to defend his title. Phil on one side, the spokesperson for the Saudi league who has lost a lot of respect, as well as all of his sponsors, and Thomas on another, doubling his major tally and confirming his good graces with the PGA Tour for some time.

It would have been good for golf to see Mito Pereira close the deal on his fairytale story, but it makes me appreciate how talented these guys are, and how exclusive the winners circle really is. You can’t switch off and it takes some serious mental fortitude to close out the win. Pereira’s time will come for his first PGA Tour title, he must shake off the Jean Van de Velde comparisons as soon as possible and get back to hitting those stinging drives with a 50-foot apex that made us all a bit jealous.

Cover Image Via Fox