The ambassador of #TourSauce himself, Justin Thomas, unleashed an legendary barrage of the sauce on Friday at Kapalua. The best part was, he ended the day tied for the lead. He was striping the ball all over the yard, hitting driver off every tee, and reaching for the tee before the sound of the impact with the ball had even reached the marshalls down the fairway:
If you're gonna flight one down, you gotta be quicker than that to get a pre apex tee grab JT pic.twitter.com/YbBD4mclo5
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) January 7, 2017
Then he began to leak a little bit of oil coming home, and unleashed a streak of sauce that only few legends of the game have ever reached. Oh, and he played this four hole stretch in -1. It started with this tee ball off the 15th:
Absolutely epic #TourSauce from the ambassador pic.twitter.com/kHo3a2AWvk
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) January 7, 2017
The point was just instincts, as there wasn’t even a gallery to warn, or a marshall to track the ball.
Then the 16th:
Just buckets of the stuff. #TourSauce pic.twitter.com/a3FMbbRXZU
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) January 7, 2017
The awkward follow through, then even a bit of a twirl mixed in. He practically imitated the logo:
And finally, my favorite, on the 18th. He waits for the green to clear from 329 YARDS OUT, you know, just in case he murders one.
This is the 2000 US Open of #TourSauce pic.twitter.com/1MA7VfzCsH
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) January 7, 2017
(Thankfully he didn’t go driver off the deck, because we’ve seen how that works out:)
The biggest threat to our nation's security is @JustinThomas34 taking driver off the deck pic.twitter.com/pnb63uf3R6
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) October 20, 2016
He ended up only a 102 yards short of the green. If there is anything I can relate to on the PGA Tour, it’s waiting for the green to clear, then missing it by 100 yards.
He of course went on to birdie the hole, and finish the day tied for the lead with Ryan Moore at -12. On a serious note, it’s great to see JT come out of the gate strong in 2017 (read about his preparation for the event here), and firing at every pin in sight. Besides those last few holes, he had the ball on a string, and was swinging it with a bit of an extra swagger that I’m not quite used to seeing out of him. My only request is that he start balling out at tournaments that aren’t located in the Pacific Ocean, and don’t require me to get up in the middle of the night if I actually want to see them live.
Other Notes From Friday
Coverage
That was a fun round of golf! There may not be much of an offseason anymore, but there’s enough of one to make us crave meaningful golf again. Partner that with incredible scenery, a primetime TV slot, and a studded leaderboard, and you’ve got yourself some pretty good television. To top it off, the Golf Channel coverage was fantastic (willing to look past how they somehow missed JT’s birdie putt on 17 to tie the lead when there were only about 8 players left on the course). They showed a LOT of shots, got quiet when the players and caddies were talking, and seem to be making a conscious effort to bring us even closer to the game.
Gonna be a hell of a lot of fun this year if @GolfChannel keeps their mics this ???!!
— Big Randy (@BigRandyNLU) January 6, 2017
We’re critical of coverage often, but if you do it well, we’ll recognize it.
Golf Channel delivering the goods thus far. Showing a ton of golf. Cutting quickly between shots w/o feeling rushed. Lots of protracer. ??
— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) January 7, 2017
Reed
Starting the year hot, and with another fantastic quintessential Reed quote:
P. Reed hit 18/18 GIR Friday in Maui. “Would have hit all 14 f’ways as well, but my tee shot @ No 1 was too good & rolled through,” he said.
— Rex Hoggard (@RexHoggardGC) January 7, 2017
He was fantastic on his way to a 65, and played so well that Jason Day basically got dropped from coverage, despite playing alongside Reed and shooting 69. He had the patented Reed follow through pose in full flex, and softly bobbed his head up and down as he tracked the ball in the air towards the flag. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us this year.
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