PGA Championship 2025: 'Don't do it': Justin Thomas immediately proves announcer wrong with preposterous recovery shot
Curtis Strange made one last impassioned plea. Well, two, technically.
"Don't do it," Strange said while watching Justin Thomas debate whether or not to play his third shot at Quail Hollow's 18th hole on Thursday during the first round of the PGA Championship. "Don't do it."
"It" was what looked to be not just an impossible chip shot from the rough left of the green, but a shot that, if Thomas actually attempted, could effectively end his week. The two-time PGA champion had gotten off to a rough start during the opening round, going out in 39, and had worked so hard to climb all the way back to one over. Why, now, would he even consider undoing all that good work with a potentially boneheaded decision to play this hero shot?
In fairness to Strange, a two-time U.S. Open winner serving as an analyst for ESPN this week, Thomas' decision to ultimately give this a go was playing with serious fire. His wedge could have easily hit that rock on the downswing and caused a whiff, which would have been a stroke. And even if he did somehow miss it, there was a strong chance it wouldn't even clear the water.
John Maginnes, the on-course reporter walking with Thomas, echoed Strange's fears. "There's a lot of things that can go wrong here and very few that can go right."
What Strange, Maginnes and perhaps everyone else watching with baited breath, forgot was that Thomas is arguably the most creative player in the sport when it comes to shots like this one. He's practiced and executed on them all. Once he took off his left shoe and sock, we should have known something special was coming:
"That's incredible," said Scott Van Pelt, working play-by-play.
"No, it's better than that," Strange replied.
Perfectly said. Thomas' third rolled out to 12 feet, setting up a solid look at par that he'd ultimately go on to miss. But the decision ended up being worth it as Thomas' bogey gave him a two-over 73, which may read "T-77" on the leader board but is by no means out of the tournament, especially considering his history in this specific one. A drop there more than likely leads to a double bogey six or worse, which would have placed him outside the top 100. A smart, calculated risk by JT.
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