2017 Open Championship: Watch Birkdale's rough completely break Justin Thomas' spirit
Remember when Justin Thomas captivated the golf world by firing a 63 during the third round of the U.S. Open last month?
[Now’s the time to sign up for Fantasy Football! Join for free]
Yeah, well, his performance on the sixth hole during Friday’s second round of The Open Championship was the complete opposite of that.
One day after wearing a tie while posting a 67, the young American gun looked like your average weekend hack as the rough on Birkdale’s par-4 sixth hole showed him absolutely no mercy.
Thomas posted a quintiple-bogey nine on and it was honestly hard to watch. His first attempt to escape the rough resulted in him dropping his club while the ball went nowhere. On the second attempt his ball actually moved backward. And on the third? Well, it resulted in his ball completely disappearing in the rough and Thomas taking a lost ball penalty.
When Thomas finally got the ball onto the green — over a scoreboard, mind you — the gallery responded with a sarcastic huzzah. No one ever said The Open was easy.
Friday’s conditions caused a lot of havoc for many golfers, but it’s likely no one will leave the course cursing Birkdale more than Thomas. He also posted a double bogey on the first and bogey on the second to completely erase the fine work he did during Thursday’s first round.
