PGA star Justin Thomas has opened up on his fear of being trolled by his fellow professionals after he beat Andrew Novak in a play-off to win the RBC Heritage last Sunday

Justin Thomas relayed the Jordan Spieth story before sharing his own fears(Image: YouTube/PardonMyTake)

PGA Tour star Justin Thomas has confessed his fear over a potential ribbing from his fellow golfers after defeating Andrew Novak in a play-off at the RBC Heritage last Sunday.

Thomas, 31, put an end to his winless run, pocketing a cool $3.6 million for his victory. Although it was his first win since securing the PGA Championship in 2022, his triumph meant he thwarted Novak’s chance of achieving his first-ever PGA Tour success.

However, having heard how Jordan Spieth was teased for beating Tom Gillis in 2015, Thomas is now cautious about being labelled as the player who potentially hindered Novak from truly launching his career.

During his appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast, Thomas shared the tale of how Spieth unintentionally became the villain of the year, following his victory over former pro Gillis at the John Deere Classic.

Gillis, aged 46 at the time, was aiming to become the oldest first-time winner on the PGA Tour in two decades, but was beaten by the three-time major champion, reports the Mirror US.

“Spieth was in a play-off with Tom Gillis, who doesn’t play professionally anymore, and Jordan beat him,” Thomas said on the podcast.

Andrew Novak came up just short against Justin Thomas at Harbour Town(Image: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

“And for the whole year [PGA star] Jason Duffner was grilling Jordan like ‘man, you just ruined Tom Gillis’ career, he would’ve had a two-year exemption, he would’ve been in Maui, he could’ve taken his family there, he could’ve been swimming with the dolphins with the tournament champions, but you had to beat him in a play-off and ruin his life’.”

Thomas was then confronted with the fear that he has now unwillingly earned his own Spieth moment. However, he shared his confidence that Novak would eventually go on to achieve great things in the game.

 

“I got faith,” Thomas said. “Gilly was a little closer to the end of his career, and Andrew’s playing well, but I hadn’t thought of that after telling the story, and so I definitely hope it pans out now [for Novak].”

Last week saw Novak positioned at 62nd in the world golf standings with only a couple of top-10 finishes under his belt this season.

The 30-year-old also narrowly missed his first win at the Bermuda Championship last year, coming in second place. The RBC was his first-ever playoff, yet success wasn’t to be thanks to Thomas.

Thomas and Novak had to head back out to replay the 18th on Sunday night, after Novak missed a prime opportunity to pick up his maiden win at Harbour Town in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

After an intense back-and-forth, it was Thomas who clinched the title with a spectacular 21-foot birdie putt during the playoff.

Thomas won five times during the 2016-17 season, including his first major title at the PGA Championship. He also won the Players Championship and another PGA Championship in the following five years, making his recent dry spell all the more unusual.

Following the play-off victory, he said to CBS: “Winning’s hard. It’s really, really hard. I’ve worked my butt off and stayed patient, stayed positive.

“I’ve got a great wife, great team, have a great daughter … Just take it for granted sometimes when you get on those runs. I didn’t realize how much I missed winning. Battling out there today was just so much fun.”