Tag: Justin Thomas

What rust? Lucas Herbert shoots 63, a scrappy JT and Max lurking among 5 things from the first round of 2023 Fortinet Championship

Here are the key storylines about the first round of the Fortinet Championship.

NAPA, Calif. — After taking a much-needed seven-week break from the PGA Tour to hit the reset button, Lucas Herbert showed little rust on Thursday.

The 27-year-old Australian reeled off six straight birdies on the back nine at Silverado’s North Course to post 9-under 63, matching his career low and grabbing a two-stroke lead over S.H. Kim after the first round of the Fortinet Championship.

“Found a little groove there,” said Herbert, who just started practicing again less than two weeks ago. “It felt like anything I did poorly seemed to work out nicely for me and the good shots got rewarded as well.”

Herbert, who won twice in 2021, including his third start as a member on the PGA Tour, was mired in a slump last season that left him ranked 152nd in the FedEx Cup standings. With only the top 70 advancing to the Playoffs in August, Herbert shut his season down after missing the cut at the British Open in July.

“Golf’s been getting me down pretty hard this year. It was just a tough stretch there where I had a lot going on both in my life and on the golf course as well,” he explained. “I didn’t really want to think about golf or talk about golf for about a good month there, just needed to get away from the game and refresh everything. Yeah, it sucked, I’d love to be here or up on the FedEx Cup standings as we speak, but hopefully taking that good break, refreshing, have a little reset gives me a better chance to play well in the fall season and get some better results and get into the bigger events again next year.”

THINGS TO DO: Five things to know about a Wine Country getaway with a side of golf

Herbert said he spent time in Maine, including meeting members of his girlfriend’s family for the first time, and enjoyed playing guitar and working on the home he bought in Orlando in March.

“I went and spent some time around people where I wasn’t the main focus of everyone’s life for the day. I was able to go and be a part of other people’s lives, which is something we don’t get to do as golfers,” he said. “I feel like coming here this week I was ready to play again. I think for a while there it felt like if my flight got canceled to a tournament and there was no other way to get there, I would have been happy to go home, like, oh, good a week off. I feel like if that happened this week, I would have been upset, I was ready to go. That sort of tells me I was back in a good frame of mind to be able to come out here and just deal with adversity when it comes on the golf course.”

Here are four more things to know about the first round of the Fortinet Championship.

Justin Thomas clarifies father’s role as swing coach, confirms parting ways with putting coach

Thomas says he’s confident he’s not that far away from playing his brand of winning golf again.

NAPA, Calif. – For Justin Thomas, waiting to find out whether he’d receive a captain’s pick from U.S. skipper Zach Johnson for the Ryder Cup in Rome later this month caused numerous sleepless nights.

“It was brutal,” he said Wednesday during his pre-tournament press conference ahead of the Fortinet Championship. “I told Zach after the fact that I compared it to like if you had an ex-girlfriend that you were trying to find any excuse you could to reach out to them to get in contact, that’s pretty much how I felt like with Zach.”

With his spot secure, Thomas said he has nothing else to prove and he’s ready to get back to work – he hasn’t played since finishing 12th at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Aug. 6 – after a disappointing season by his high standards. Thomas, 30, finished 71st in the FedEx Cup regular season and failed to qualify for the Playoffs for the first time in his career.

As he prepared to make his sixth start at the Fortinet Championship and first since 2019, Thomas discussed some of the changes he’s made to his team – parting ways with putting coach John Graham – and clarified his father, Mike’s role going forward.

“We had gotten to a point where everything was fundamentally or mechanically or on the putting green was as good as it could get. Basically, what I told him was he can’t go out and make the putts for me, I have to figure that out, and that’s something only I can do,” Thomas said of Graham. “It’s something where I grew up just going out and practicing and hitting putts and figuring out how to get it in the hole. I didn’t necessarily care how it looked, all that mattered was getting the ball in the hole as fast as I can, and that’s more what I want to do. I know there’s a lot of really knowledgeable people out there, John included, that down the road if I feel like it gets to a point where I need to see somebody then I can, but the hope is that I don’t need to.”

2023 Fortinet Championship
Justin Thomas plays his shot from the eighth tee during a practice round ahead of the 2023 Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, California. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

Thomas learned the game from his father, a club pro in Louisville, Kentucky, and while Matt Killen at times has served as a second set of eyes, Mike has been his primary coach. Under his tutelage, Justin won 15 times on the PGA Tour, including two majors and reached world No. 1. His father retired from his club pro position to travel more regularly with his son and pupil but that schedule may be trimmed next season. Mike Thomas disputed a previous report by Golf Channel that Justin intended to figure out his swing issues on his own while still working with him.

“Some things definitely got lost in translation and incorrect, to be perfectly honest,” Justin said.

But what he went on to say essentially confirmed the Golf Channel report. Justin said his goal is to return to working more in the fashion that went swimmingly during his run from 2017 to 2019 when he seemingly had the game on a string and reached world No. 1.

“My dad came out a handful of times a year, more so because he was working,” he said. “But he can come out any and all as he wants as a dad, but there’s just going to be some weeks where if things are good, I don’t necessarily need a coach, and I think that’s more of just where I want things. We can exchange texts, we’ll work, you know, when we’re home and when it’s needed, but when things are great, I don’t need to have somebody there with me hitting balls or putting all the time because then it’s like I’m just going to end up finding something that’s not even there.”

Thomas settled on the changes for good reason.

“I just lost all ownership, all accountability to where when things were going wrong I was looking to (my dad and John Graham) to answer the questions instead of I’m the one that needs to figure it out at some point,” he explained.

He’s also trying to channel his swing from 2017-19 too, which he called his best ball-striking years, when he had more width and a more repeatable action.

“I just got away from some of that,” he said. “I felt like the club was getting too steep going back and then I had to reroute it going down.”

After not touching a club for two weeks after the Wyndham, Thomas is raring to go and hopes to “get some competition under my belt” before going to Italy for the Ryder Cup, which begins Sept. 29. He’s confident he’s not that far away from playing his brand of winning golf again.

“I have a lot of belief in myself that I’m not as far off as I think,” he said. “All it takes is one week, one stretch, one whatever you want to call it that could just completely flip everything and nobody even talks or remembers it anymore.”

Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson (jokingly) sets high bar for Max Homa, Justin Thomas at Fortinet Championship

“I think it’s inevitable that whatever Max and J.T. do this week will be overstated to the good or to the bad.”

NAPA, Calif. – Zach Johnson is wearing two hats this week – one of which is trying to prepare to play in the Fortinet Championship, which begins on Thursday, and the other is prepping as captain of Team USA for the Ryder Cup in Rome, which begins on Sept. 29 and included two impromptu Zoom calls when he woke up Tuesday.

He said he’s taking both jobs seriously, including laying down the gauntlet to his two Ryder Cup players in the field this week, Max Homa and Justin Thomas.

“Max and J.T., I don’t really want to speak on behalf of them, but if they don’t play well, they may not play. That’s the bottom line,” said Johnson speaking at a pre-tournament press conference, before adding, “Kidding.”

“There was a little hesitation there, did you see that?” said Stewart Cink, one of Johnson’s vice captains for the Ryder Cup and a past champion at the Fortinet Championship.

Johnson continued, and said he had some concerns whether he should play this week.

“At the same time, given the people I have around me, specifically someone like Stewart and our other peers, our leadership captains if you will, we’ve done a lot of good work to date,” Johnson said.

He had little doubt that it would be beneficial for Homa and Thomas, in particular, to get some reps under tournament conditions.

“I don’t think it’s ever bad to go compete. That’s what we’re designed to do, that’s where we’re wired,” he said. “Ideally they get some momentum. Momentum in this game is pretty lethal and can be a really good thing.”

He added: “I’m not going to give their scorecard a whole lot of merit when it comes to what we’re trying to do two weeks from now.”

“I think it’s inevitable that whatever Max and J.T. do this week will be overstated to the good or to the bad,” Cink said. “I hope they both win. I don’t think that’s possible, but I hope they both win. That would be great for their confidence alone.

“And we tie for third,” Johnson said.

Confidence is knowing your best golf is still to come.

“We hope that they have confidence coming out of this week and that would be a great thing,” Cink said.

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2023 Fortinet Championship Thursday tee times, how to watch at Silverado Resort

Everything you need to know for the first round at Silverado Resort.

After a two-week hiatus, the PGA Tour is back in business with the first event of its revamped FedEx Cup Fall series.

The 2023 Fortinet Championship is set to be held once again at the rebranded Silverado Resort in Napa, California, this week as Max Homa looks to join an exclusive group of players to three-peat at a PGA Tour event. Players will see a different side of Silverado’s North Course this year as the resort decided to change the routing for the tournament in order to produce more thrilling finishes.

Homa and Ryder Cup teammate Justin Thomas highlight the notable players in the field this week that will largely be comprised of players who finished outside last season’s FedEx Playoffs (Nos. 71 and lower on the standings). From the Fortinet to the RSM Classic, Nov. 16-19, players will battle to remain in the top 125 to retain their status for the new-look 2024 schedule.

Those who finished Nos. 51-70 in the FedExCup standings have already locked up their PGA Tour cards for next season but still have something to compete for: Nos. 51-60 in the standings after the RSM Classic will qualify for the first two Signature Events following the 2024 Sentry in Hawaii.

Winners of FedEx Cup Fall events still earn the same benefits as winning regular season tournaments, including a two-year exemption, spots in the Players, Sentry and major championships, not to mention 500 FedEx Cup points.

Simply put: there will be plenty of storylines to follow over the next two months as the Tour returns to action. Here’s everything you need to know for the first round of the 2023 Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort.

MORE: Fortinet Championship odds and picks to win

Tee times

1st tee

Time Players
9:55 a.m. Arjun Atwal, Derek Lamely, Paul Haley II
10:06 a.m. Dylan Frittelli, Wesley Bryan, D.A. Points
10:17 a.m. Ryan Palmer, D.J. Trahan, David Lipsky
10:28 a.m. Erik van Rooyen, Garrick Higgo, Brian Gay
10:39 a.m. J.J. Spaun, Chad Ramey, Luke List
10:50 a.m. Lucas Herbert, Martin Laird, Andrew Landry
11:01 a.m. Patton Kizzire, Hank Lebioda, S.H. Kim
11:12 a.m. Kevin Tway, Jason Dufner, Henrik Norlander
11:23 a.m. Scott Piercy, Ryan Moore, Kevin Stadler
11:34 a.m. Ben Martin, Sangmoon Bae, Derek Ernst
11:45 a.m. Matt NeSmith, Sam Stevens, Austin Smotherman
11:56 a.m. Brandon Matthews, Trevor Werbylo, Ryan Gerard
12:07 p.m. Hayden Springer, Fred Biondi, Preston Summerhays (a)
3:05 p.m. Taylor Pendrith, Callum Tarren, MJ Daffue
3:16 p.m. Austin Cook, Austin Eckroat, Zecheng Dou
3:27 p.m. Aaron Baddeley, Greg Chalmers, Geoff Ogilvy
3:38 p.m. Akshay Bhatia, Justin Thomas, Sahith Theegala
3:49 p.m. Nick Hardy, Mackenzie Hughes, Cam Davis
4 p.m. Stewart Cink, Brendon Todd, Lanto Griffin
4:11 p.m. Jimmy Walker, Doug Ghim, Dylan Wu
4:22 p.m. Eric Cole, Taylor Montgomery, Davis Thompson
4:33 p.m. Cameron Percy, Robby Shelton, Vince Whaley
4:44 p.m. Adam Long, Sam Ryder, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
4:55 p.m. James Hahn, Mark Hubbard, Justin Lower
5:06 p.m. Michael Gligic, Augusto Núñez, Brent Grant
5:17 p.m. Devon Bling, Blake Hathcoat, Chase Sienkiewicz

10th tee

Time Players
9:55 a.m. Sean O’Hair, Beau Hossler, Carson Young
10:06 a.m. Ricky Barnes, Kevin Yu, Harrison Endycott
10:17 a.m. Kevin Chappell, Will Gordon, Tyson Alexander
10:28 a.m. Max Homa, Cameron Champ, Joel Dahmen
10:39 a.m. Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar
10:50 a.m. K.H. Lee, Andrew Putnam, Zach Johnson
11:01 a.m. Kelly Kraft, Doc Redman, Andrew Novak
11:12 a.m. Chris Stroud, Kyle Stanley, Scott Brown
11:23 a.m. C.T. Pan, Jonathan Byrd, Greyson Sigg
11:34 a.m. Ryan Armour, Cody Gribble, Charley Hoffman
11:45 a.m. Satoshi Kodaira, Alex Noren, Matti Schmid
11:56 a.m. Carl Yuan, Trevor Cone, Kevin Roy
12:07 p.m. Peter Kuest, Henry Chung, Morgan Deneen
3:05 p.m. William McGirt, Brian Stuard, Max McGreevy
3:16 p.m. Tommy Gainey, Matthias Schwab, Harry Hall
3:27 p.m. Sung Kang, Peter Malnati, Ben Taylor
3:38 p.m. Robert Streb, J.B. Holmes, Troy Merritt
3:49 p.m. Chez Reavie, Tyler Duncan, Scott Stallings
4 p.m. Nico Echavarria, Jim Herman, Richy Werenski
4:11 p.m. Martin Trainer, Kevin Streelman, Stephan Jaeger
4:22 p.m. Russell Knox, Zac Blair, Kramer Hickok
4:33 p.m. Ted Potter Jr., Chesson Hadley, Justin Suh
4:44 p.m. Nate Lashley, Brice Garnett, Ben Crane
4:55 p.m. S.Y. Noh, Nick Watney, Harry Higgs
5:06 p.m. Scott Harrington, Tano Goya, Kyle Westmoreland
5:17 p.m. Tom Johnson, Cyril Bouniol, Jacob Bergeron

How to watch, listen

All times listed are ET. ESPN+ is the exclusive home of PGA Tour Live. There is no PGA Tour Live coverage of the third and final rounds of the 2023 Fortinet Championship.

Thursday, Sept. 15

TV

First round, 6 to 9 p.m., Golf Channel

Streaming

First round, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., ESPN+

First round, 6 to 9 p.m., Peacock

Radio

First round, 3 to 9 p.m., Sirius XM

Friday, Sept. 16

TV

Second round, 6 to 9 p.m., Golf Channel

Streaming

First round, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., ESPN+

First round, 6 to 9 p.m., Peacock

Radio

First round, 3 to 9 p.m., Sirius XM

Saturday, Sept. 16

TV

Third round, 6 to 9 p.m., Golf Channel

Streaming

Third round, 6 to 9 p.m., Peacock

Radio

First round, 3 to 9 p.m., Sirius XM

Sunday, Sept. 16

TV

Final round, 6 to 9 p.m., Golf Channel

Streaming

Final round, 6 to 9 p.m., Peacock

Radio

First round, 3 to 9 p.m., Sirius XM

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2023 Fortinet Championship odds, course history and picks to win

The PGA Tour is back.

After a brief hiatus, the PGA Tour returns to action this week in Napa, California, at the Fortinet Championship.

Max Homa, who was recently in Rome with the United States Ryder Cup team on a scouting mission of Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, returns to Silverado Resort’s North Course as the two-time defending champion.

The 32-year-old comes into the week with five straight top-20 finishes: T-12 (Scottish Open), T-10 (The Open), T-6 (FedEx St. Jude), T-5 (BMW) and T-9 (Tour Championship). After struggling mid-summer, Homa is back to the form we saw from him in the late winter and spring of 2023.

Ryder Cup teammate Justin Thomas, Sahith Theegala and rising star Akshay Bhatia join him in the field.

Golf course

Silverado Resort and Spa (North Course) | Par 72 | 7,123 yards

2022 Fortinet Championship
A general view of the 15th hole during the second round of the Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort and Spa North course on September 16, 2022 in Napa, California. (Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)

Course history

Betting preview

Justin Thomas ‘getting back to the grind’ ahead of 2023 Ryder Cup (with a little fun on the side)

JT has spent the last two weeks in Tennessee preparing for his next PGA Tour start and the upcoming Ryder Cup.

Golf fans missed seeing Justin Thomas in the FedEx Cup Playoffs after the former world No. 1 failed to qualify for the PGA Tour’s season-ending stretch last month.

So what’s he been up to since? The 30-year-old has spent the last two weeks at the Troubadour Golf and Field Club near Nashville in College Grove, Tennessee, working on his game and having a little fun on the side.

Thomas shared a post on Instagram that featured a slow motion swing video (that looks dangerously close to a Roy McAvoy training aid from Tin Cup), as well as pictures of a fish he caught, a night with country music star Eric Church and a suite at his alma mater Alabama’s first football game of the season.

Ryder Cup: Meet Team USA | Uniforms

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw0IzLTrgAs/?img_index=1

Despite his struggles this season, United States Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson selected Thomas with one of his six captain’s picks to complete his 12-player team bound for Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, for the 2023 Ryder Cup. Johnson cited JT’s past experiences and passion for the event as his reason for picking him: “In my mind, he was born for this and you just don’t leave JT at home.”

Thomas will make his third appearance for the red, white and blue later this month near Rome and will look to improve on an already stellar 6-2-1 record.

Before the Ryder Cup, Thomas will tee it up for the first time in his PGA Tour career at the 2023 Fortinet Championship at Silverado Country Club in Napa, California, where he’ll be joined in the field by two-time defending champion Max Homa.

Who knows, if things go well in Napa, maybe we’ll see the pool noodles on the range in Rome, too.

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‘You just don’t leave JT at home’: Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson on why he picked Justin Thomas

Thomas is 6-2-1 in two previous Ryder Cup appearances for Team USA.

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One of the biggest questions facing United States Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson was whether or not to bring an out-of-form Justin Thomas to Italy for next month’s event.

Johnson announced his six captain’s picks to complete his 12-player team bound for Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, and Thomas was one of them.

“His passion for the Ryder Cup is very evident,” said Johnson during a press conference after making his selection. “In my mind, he was born for this and you just don’t leave JT at home.”

The 30-year-old former world No. 1 will make his third appearance for the red, white and blue next month near Rome and will look to improve on an already stellar 6-2-1 record.

MORE: Check out Team USA’s Ryder Cup uniforms

“I’ve been very fortunate to play with some good friends of mine that I feel like I know well,” said Thomas, “that I’m not only comfortable around but I feel like I can do my best to try to bring the best out of them.”

“One of the most talented players on the PGA Tour in my opinion,” added Johnson. “(Thomas) has without question been the heart and soul of Team USA at Ryder Cups. Our emotional leader, I would say, and I don’t think he would argue with that. He just leads by example.”

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Meet the 12 players and captains representing Team USA at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy

Get to know the 12 players on Team USA for the 2023 Ryder Cup.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Team USA.

After the conclusion of the 2023 BMW Championship the six automatic qualifiers for the U.S. team bound for Marco Simone Golf and Country Club and the 2023 Ryder Cup were confirmed. Following the Tour Championship, captain Zach Johnson announced his six captain’s picks that would join the team near Rome, Italy.

Of the 12 players on the roster, four will make their debut in the biennial event against the Europeans, who haven’t lost on home soil since 1993.

Get to know all 12 players and the captains who will represent the red, white and blue in the 44th playing of the Ryder Cup.

MORE: Check out Team USA’s Ryder Cup uniforms

Making the case for each potential U.S. Ryder Cup captain’s pick for Italy

Does Justin Thomas get the nod on past performances? Will Brooks Koepka or any other LIV players be selected?

Zach Johnson has some choices to make.

On Tuesday the U.S. Ryder Cup captain will make his six selections and complete the 12-player team bound for Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Sept. 29-Oct. 1.

Locked in as automatic qualifiers are world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, Open champion Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele.

But who will join them? Does Justin Thomas get the nod based on past performances? Will Brooks Koepka or any other LIV players be selected? How about a 43-year-old debutant in Lucas Glover?

Let’s make the case for the potential captain’s picks for the 2023 Ryder Cup.

A look back at every FedEx Cup Playoff champion, beginning with Tiger Woods

View all the former FedEx Cup Playoff champions, beginning with Tiger Woods in 2007.

The FedEx Cup Playoffs have gone through multiple format changes over the years, but one thing remains the same — a massive payout to the winner.

A total of $18 million goes to the winner of the PGA Tour’s season-long race. Only the top 30 players make their way to East Lake and are broken down into an aggregate scoring system that went into effect in 2019.

Since the FedEx Cup Playoffs began in 2007, 13 different champions have been crowned. Rory McIlroy leads the way with three FedEx Cups to his name, surpassing Tiger Woods’ record in 2019. The two all-time greats are the only players to claim multiple FedEx Cups.

Although the winner of the event has claimed an eight-figure prize since 2007, everyone who makes it to Atlanta goes home with a sizeable check in their back pocket.

Who will add their name to the list this year?