Justin Thomas fearful as PGA Tour star reveals Jordan Spieth’s year-long grilling

Justin Thomas may have bagged his first win in three years, but he will be hoping that his play-off victory over the winless Andrew Novak doesn’t come back to haunt him

PGA star Justin Thomas has revealed his fear of being tormented by his colleagues after beating Andrew Novak in a play-off at the RBC Heritage last Sunday.

Thomas, 31, brought his winless streak to a halt as he pocketed a handsome $3.6 million for his victory. While it was his first win since clinching the PGA Championship in 2022, his triumph meant he denied Novak an inaugural PGA Tour success.

However, after hearing about how Jordan Spieth, 31, was given a hard time for beating Tom Gillis in 2015, Thomas will now be wary of being known as the player who possibly prevented Novak from truly kicking off his career.

Speaking on the Pardon My Take podcast, Thomas relayed the story of how Spieth unwittingly became public enemy number one, for a whole year, after beating former pro Gillis at the John Deere Classic.

The 46-year-old Gillis was attempting to become the oldest first-time winner on the PGA Tour in 20 years, yet he was denied by the three-time major winner.

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

“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 success.