LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Two-time PGA champion and Oldham County-native Justin Thomas joined a long list of local celebrities who have earned a "Hometown Hero" banner on May 6, and he's been feeling positive about his chances this week ever since.
But that's not going to stop him from feeling the pressure that comes with playing a major, especially in one's hometown.
“Well the good news is I do have a pretty easy time putting a lot of pressure on myself already,” Thomas said during a news conference on Tuesday. “I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to feel. I’ve never experienced it. I’ve never played a professional tournament, let alone a PGA, in my hometown.”
He said he feels like he's been playing well enough to win lately, but it's a matter of doing it. His last professional victory was the 2022 PGA Championship.
Thomas said it's been almost a decade since he last played Valhalla, but the course is still vaguely familiar to him.
“The course hasn’t changed too much from what I remembered," Thomas said. "It’s all very right in front of you. You just hit a driver really far and really straight, and hit your irons well.”
Thomas said he didn't remember much from the 2000 PGA Championship -- he was 7 years old at the time. But he did remember hearing the roar of the crowd from across the course and watching Tiger Woods and Bob May duke it out in a playoff.
"I don't know if [Thomas] was still in diapers or not," Woods said in a news conference later Tuesday after hearing about that memory, drawing a chuckle from the crowd. "I think to have a major come to your hometown where you grew up, it's special for him. Special for Mike and Jani, and everyone who's involved in his life."
And Thomas takes great pride in being from Louisville.
“I’m very happy to be the one that’s on this side of the ropes, or taking part in the championship versus the one that’s watching from the other side of the ropes,” he said.
Thomas, 31, was born in Louisville and attended North Oldham Middle School before graduating from St. Xavier High School in 2011. He played college golf at the University of Alabama and won a national championship in 2013.
He has 17 professional wins, including 15 on the PGA Tour. He is a two-time major champion, winning the 2017 and 2022 PGA Championships. Thomas also won the FedEx Cup in 2017, and is a two-time PGA Player of Year winner, and has earned over $57 million in his career.
Watch the full conference below
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