Justin Thomas Nearly Hits Volunteer After Throwing Driver In Frustration In Embarrassing Scene
JT nearly hit a volunteer with his driver at the Travelers Championship.
Justin Thomas did not have a great Saturday afternoon during the third round of the Travelers Championship, but it could have been a whole hell of a lot worse if his driver made contact with a volunteer standing near a tee box.
Thomas began the third round tied for the lead alongside Tommy Fleetwood, but after posting a three-over 73 on Saturday, he found himself 10 shots back.
The 32-year-old was firmly hanging around the top of the leaderboard, sitting at even par for the day through his first 12 holes, but things went off the rails in a hurry on the Par 5 13th hole.
Thomas pulled his tee shot way left out of bounds and onto a set of train tracks guarding the left side of the hole. With his ball traveling out of play, Thomas let go of his driver on his follow-through and nearly hit a volunteer standing just off of the tee box, who was responsible for signaling which direction the tee balls were traveling.
This was not a case of the club slipping out of Thomas' hands; he intentionally let go of his driver. Thomas obviously wasn't trying to hit the volunteer, but came awfully close in a scene he surely wishes he could take back.
As soon as he realized he had almost hit the volunteer with his club, Thomas turned to him and apologized, as you can hear in the video below.
Mistakes happen and frustrations certainly boil over on the golf course, even at the highest level, but the full-on helicopter driver throw is typically reserved for the 20-handicap player, not a two-time major champion in a PGA Tour signature event.
Thomas ultimately finished the 13th hole by carding a nine, all but ending his chances of contending for a title on Sunday afternoon.