TULSA, OKLAHOMA | Among the most difficult things to do in golf is to force an outcome.
The game is notoriously hard-headed and generally cold-hearted, and Justin Thomas, the son of a lifetime PGA of America pro and grandson of another, knows that as well as anyone.
Considered one of the game’s shining stars, as much for his talent as his personality, Thomas didn’t need to be reminded that he had not hoisted a trophy for more than a year, dating to his victory in the 2021 Players Championship.
As good as Thomas has been – and PGA Tour statistics bear out his overall excellence – someone else had found a way to be better on a particular week.
Until Sunday at Southern Hills, where Thomas relied on his persistence and dogged determination – and some 72nd-hole help from Mito Pereira – to win his second PGA Championship, in a playoff over Will Zalatoris.
Thomas did what is often the hardest thing to do in tournament golf: hang around until his moment arrived. He started the final round seven strokes behind Pereira, the third-round leader, and there was a moment Sunday afternoon when he found himself eight strokes behind. It tied the third-largest comeback in major championship history.
By early Sunday evening, Thomas was a two-time major champion, playing his last 13 holes in 6-under par, finally subduing the relentless Zalatoris with two birdies in their three-hole aggregate playoff.
“I really tried to play the golf course for what it was, and I had a good feeling,” Thomas said. “Although I was so far back, there weren’t that many guys ahead of me, and it's a very tough golf course and anything could happen.
“I played that back nine beautifully. The holes I didn't make birdie or had birdie putts, I had really good looks, and I hit great putts that just didn't go in, and the holes I missed the green I was able to salvage a par, which is what you have to do to win a major. I kept telling myself I've been here before. Although it's been five years, it's somewhere down in there.”
To be fair, Pereira helped make it happen. Leading by a stroke on the 72nd hole, Pereira hit his tee shot into a creek, leading to a double bogey that turned a potential coronation into an epic collapse.
It left Thomas and Zalatoris with the moment dropped into their laps. Thomas had made a clutch birdie on the 17th hole in regulation to get to 5-under, and Zalatoris had holed an 8-foot par putt on the 18th green to tie Thomas.
After both players birdied the par-5 13th hole to start the playoff, the extra holes turned on the drivable par-4 17th hole, where Thomas two-putted for a birdie and Zalatoris failed to match him.
“Hey, I'll play those holes at 1 under any day of the week, and JT happened to play in 2,” Zalatoris said.
“Hats off to JT. He's been due for a while to get another win, let alone a major.”
Zalatoris, 25, is still chasing his first PGA Tour victory, but he has an uncommon confidence and comfort in the game’s biggest events. He has finished in the top 10 in five of his eight major championship starts, with runner-up finishes in the 2021 Masters and now the PGA.
“This is what you live for,” said Zalatoris, whose bogey save from a concrete path behind the par-3 sixth green will be an enduring image from the fifth PGA Championship played at Southern Hills.
For Thomas, the victory enhances a career that still feels like it’s in its early days. He has 15 PGA Tour wins at age 29 and a game that can be fit to any setting.
“It's funny, I was asked earlier in the week about what lead is safe, and I said, no lead,” Thomas said. “This place is so tough. But if you hit the fairways, you can make birdies, and I stayed so patient, I just couldn't believe I found myself in a playoff.”
Ron Green Jr.