One particular memory keeps Justin Thomas up at night. It comes from his 2020 Workday Charity Open playoff match against Collin Morikawa. Why exactly? Well, it was his own mistake. In the playoff, Thomas made a long birdie putt on the first hole, while Morikawa had to sink a challenging putt to stay in the game. Seems well? Well, not so quickly! Thomas made a bogey in the second playoff hole after laying up from behind a tree. Morikawa then sealed his win by an even par on the final hole, effectively ending Thomas’s PGA Tour win pursuit.

But another event has been in the news for some time now–thanks to Thomas’s runner-up finish at the Valspar Championship. Both events were the talk of the podcast Throwbacks during Justin Thomas’s visit. Picking up his near misses when it comes to winning, the host couldn’t help but ask Thomas how he relieved the stress. He added, “Do you allow yourself time to be pissed?”

Thomas’s reply came very quickly, but he began by describing how he had two opinions about losing a game. “That’s a good question. I think it depends. It’s very specific, I’d say what it is. But also it probably depends on where you’re at in your career.” Thomas further explained that sometimes you’d see players winning in their first 15 starts, for instance, and then disappearing.

He continued his statement by talking about his face-off against Viktor Hovland at the Valspar Championship. “I did what I did, but he birdied 16th and 17th, and it’s easy to look at what I did, but this is something that is way easier for me to get over.” This, of course, was another near-miss. At the Valspar Championship, Thomas lost due to errant shots on Hole 16 and 18, resulting in two bogeys. Hovland took advantage of this by making birdies on 14, 16, and 17. Another close win, five years later, must have gotten to Thomas.

And that’s why he brought back the 2020 Workday Charity Open playoff match. Thomas explained the situation and added, “We went to a playoff, and I lost in the playoff. Like, that still pisses me off.” Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Thomas has discussed the loss. Back then, having missed on his 13th PGA Tour win, the golfer discussed his 19 even pars but admitted that “I just completely gave it up, so that’s just going to hurt for a while.” Thomas also mentioned that he would now know better if he got into a similar situation. However, despite his positivity, he seems just as somber about the upcoming Masters Tournament.

Justin Thomas feels anxious about the 2025 Masters appearance

“It’s a tournament everybody wants to win. It’s the biggest life changer, whatever you want to call it. But just the amount of overpreparation that’s done for it… and I’ve done it, I’d be the first to admit,” Thomas said during the same interview on the Throwbacks with Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara. Interestingly, a two-time major championship winner, Thomas is still seeking his first Green Jacket. Additionally, this year will mark his 10th appearance at the Masters. But if you’re looking at his Augusta National appearance performance-wise, then he has performed well. His best finish came in 2020 with 4th and T8 in the 2022 Masters Tournament.

However, in the recent editions, he has missed cuts at both the 2023 and 2024 Masters. And he seems to be pretty aware of the weight on him ahead of the Masters. “At the end of the day, it’s just golf. But man, it’s so, so hard. And I mean, I’m still working on it. I’m trying to treat it the same and just, you know, not overprepare because that’s what I struggle with the most.” But even more interesting is his opinion on how golfers treat Masters. Thomas shared that it is hard to treat the Masters as any other tournament, given how prestigious the event is. The result of it is that many golfers get excited and get burned out even before the first round! But Thomas has a solution. He will not play any practice rounds at Augusta National, a bold decision he made with his caddie.

Thomas admitted he overdoes it sometimes as well, however, he also believes that a lack of course knowledge hasn’t really hindered his performance. He added, “I just needed to putt it better or chip it better.” The Masters is a prestigious event, and the emotions will be at an all-time high. Will we see Justin Thomas lose it?