Why Tiger Woods has been proven completely wrong after his claim about Justin Thomas’ ‘bad’ golf in 2022

Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas are very close friends off the golf course, and they have always spoken very highly of one another.

Woods is obviously the standard bearer for all young players in the game today, Thomas included, having won 82 PGA Tour tournaments including 15 majors.

The 49-year-old obviously had something very special about him during his prime years.

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When Thomas burst onto the scene nearly a decade ago, he was mooted as someone who had the ability to challenge Woods’ dominance.

However, while he has achieved huge success in the game, it’s fair to say that he hasn’t quite reached the lofty heights that were expected of him.

Thomas has described Woods’ brilliance as ‘insane’ in the past, citing the sheer amount of incredibly difficult shots that the great man has pulled off.

However, perhaps Tiger’s best attribute was his ability to shoot decent scores when he was at his absolute worst.

Tiger Woods has been proven wrong after his Justin Thomas claim in 2022

Thomas recently underwent back surgery, just like Woods has done on numerous occasions in the past.

He’ll be hoping to bounce back next season and rediscover his best form after a fairly quiet three-year period on the PGA Tour.

In 2022, Thomas joined the exclusive club of players under the age of 30 who had won multiple major championships, The Players Championship and 15 or more PGA Tour events.

Woods commented on Thomas’ achievement, and highlighted how his fellow American had finally ‘learned how to play golf’.

“He is finally learning how to play golf on a daily basis, where his bad is actually pretty good,” Woods said of the 29-year-old Thomas. “That’s where you need to get to.”

Woods was alluding to the now 32-year-old’s ability to remain in contention and post solid scores even when he was playing badly.

Unfortunately for Thomas, though, that hasn’t been the case for him whatsoever over the past three years.

In fact, Thomas has only won one tournament since his PGA Championship victory in 2022.

And he has posted some truly horrendous scores since Woods talked him up so much three years ago.

Justin Thomas’ worst rounds since 2022

Since Woods’ comments on the 16-time PGA Tour winner, Thomas has posted rounds of 82 and 81 at The Open and the US Open respectively in 2023.

The American carded a round of eight-over-par 80 at the Memorial Tournament in 2025, while he shot rounds of 79 at the Valspar Championship and The Masters in 2024.

He also posted back-to-back rounds of 76 at Oakmont in the US Open this year.

Thomas’ bad golf has been particularly bad over the past few years, in stark contrast to what Woods claimed.

The key to winning regularly on the PGA Tour is the ability to turn a round of 74 into a 70.

Scottie Scheffler does this so well.

Tiger Woods did the same during his prime years, and Thomas needs to find a way to improve his scores when he’s playing badly, if he is to start racking up those victories once again.

If anything, not only has Thomas struggled to post solid rounds when he’s been nowhere near his best but he has also let plenty of good rounds go with poor finishes over the past few years – finishing seven-over-par for his final four holes at the Masters in 2024 being a prime example of that.

The two-time major champion would do well to read those old comments from Woods and use them as inspiration to get back to his best.