January 2, 2025; Maui, Hawaii, USA;
Justin Thomas hits his tee shot on the first hole during the first round of The Sentry golf tournament at Plantation Course at Kapalua. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images Justin Thomas isn’t settling for top-10 finishes on this year’s PGA Tour.
After tallying six of those last year, the world’s No. 21 golfer wants more success in 2025.
“The next step is definitely winning, winning and winning more,” Thomas said.
Thomas will aim to take that step and secure his first win in over two years when he tees off at The American Express on Thursday in La Quinta, Calif.
The 31-year-old has 15 Tour victories, but none since winning his second PGA Championship in May 2022. He had four top-10 finishes during the 2022-23 season and nearly ended his drought late last year, when he closed his 2024 campaign with two top-3 results.
“Obviously I did, I had a lot of good last year, and played solid golf, but it was a season without any trophies, and that’s, I don’t want to say not acceptable, but not, it’s not my favorite thing in the world, I’ll just say that,” Thomas said. “I just got to keep plugging, keep working on what I’m working on.”
Thomas is now winless over his last 50 Tour events after tying for 26th at The Sentry in Hawaii earlier this month.
He fared well at La Quinta last year, shooting 27 under to finish in a tie for third with Xander Schauffele and Taiwan’s Kevin Yu.
The tournament’s setup sends golfers to multiple courses, where they’ll play one round each. Pete Dye Stadium, Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West and La Quinta Country Club each present a par-72 layout, and Pete Dye Stadium also hosts the final round after the 54-hole cut reduces the starting field to 65.
Thomas said being aggressive on the “scorable” courses is key.
“It’s go make a birdie every hole,” he said. ” … You have to, you put the ball in play off the tee, you have a lot of wedges, a lot of short irons, the par-5s are reachable, and the greens are in good condition where you can just get on some rolls. I think that’s the big thing is trying to stay patient.”
The courses may seem forgiving, but putting could be a greater challenge after last summer’s renovations.
“They got some funky slopes on ’em,” Thomas said. “They altered some greens more than others. You’re definitely going to see some questioned looks, I would say, after some putts. Just a lot of movement and very, very subtle movement versus kind of constant slope. They’re very firm, so although, you know, it’s still obviously a very gettable course, it requires more strategy than the past.”
Thomas will be among the 155 competitors trying to dethrone 21-year-old Nick Dunlap, who won the event as an amateur last year. Dunlap’s 29-under 259 marked the lowest 72-hole score in the tournament’s history.
Thomas’s 2025 did not start off particularly strong in Hawaii, but that hasn’t deterred his focus with plenty still to play for in 2025.
“It’s definitely win,” Thomas said. “It’s putting myself in contention more often, getting in final groups … sleeping on leads, just continuing to build and doing it more and more often. Yeah, getting way more of those.”
–Field Level Media
