Justin Thomas struggles with ‘dead arm,’ shoots 74 in Round 2 at The Honda Classic
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Justin Thomas holes out from the pine straw at Honda
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The dead arm was one issue for Justin Thomas. A cluttered mind was the other.
Combine the two, and it’s no wonder the defending champion of The Honda Classic was left searching for answers as he walked off PGA National on Friday after a 4-over 74.
“My mind is just all over the place,” Thomas said. “I can’t seem to focus. Not playing well today definitely doesn’t help with that. That’s no excuse; it’s no one’s fault but my own, but sometimes you just can't quite get into it.”
At 2 over through two rounds, Thomas left the course outside the cutline but managed to make the cut on the number when the line moved in the afternoon. Reaching the weekend – and getting a chance to putt on fresh greens early Saturday – gives him a chance to regroup.
He could certainly use it after a second round that included water balls at the par-3 15th (triple bogey) and par-4 sixth (double bogey). It’s the second time in his last four rounds that he’s suffered at least two doubles-or-worse; his third-round 74 last week at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship included two doubles.
MUST READS: Round 2, The Honda Classic
Thomas was able to minimize some of the damage Friday with a hole-out for eagle from 52 yards at the par-5 third. “One of the few positives of the day,” he said.
It was a day that started off on the wrong foot. Or more specific, arm.
On Thursday, he suffered a stinging sensation to his right arm when his 9-iron scraped a tree after he hit his approach shot at the 10th hole. It made the club unusable for the rest of the round, and Thomas was worried that his wrist might be sore.
He took some Advil and iced the wrist, but when he woke up Friday morning, he knew he wasn’t 100 percent. He said the arm wasn’t necessarily numb, but “tingly a little bit.”
“It just feels like I have a dead arm, like when someone kind of punches you in the arm and you have a dead arm,” he explained. “It’s just been about a seven-hour long dead arm … just feels like it kind of needs to get popped. Just doesn’t have a lot of strength.”