Justin Thomas will guide rookie Jackson Koivun through his first professional team match at the Presidents Cup on Thursday, nearly a decade after Thomas himself made his debut in the event.
Thomas made his Presidents Cup debut in 2017 at Liberty National, going 3-1-1 and winning his first two sessions alongside Rickie Fowler. The following year, Thomas played his first Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in Paris, a week he described as “very nerve-racking” and “night and day different” from his previous experience. He recalled a moment with Jordan Spieth before their opening fourball match, when Spieth told him, “You just let me know come Friday what you want to do.” Thomas didn’t decide until minutes before teeing off. “We were walking to the tee,” he said. “I’ll never forget walking over that bridge and seeing that horseshoe and the vibration … and I’m just like, ‘I’ll go. I’m going to go.’ He’s like, ‘You got it, you’re good.’”
Thomas and Spieth won that match 1 up against Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton, and Thomas finished the week leading the U.S. team with a 4-1 record. Heading into this week, Thomas holds a 19-9-4 record between the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, and has been a consistent presence for U.S. teams.
The current Presidents Cup has offered Thomas a chance to connect with younger players. “I really enjoy the golf side of it with the guys,” he said. “The amount of sharing and talking through stuff on weeks like this, to me, I really, really enjoy. I don’t know how other guys are, but I pick the brains of my teammates and my captains a lot.” Thomas recounted how he would wait for team events to ask Phil Mickelson questions because “I knew that he wouldn’t tell me in a regular tournament, but when we got to a team event, I knew he would because we were teammates and he wanted to help me out.”
Thomas and Koivun share an agent, Excel’s Lance Young, which has allowed Thomas to act as a mentor over the past year despite their different college backgrounds—Thomas attended Alabama, while Koivun is an Auburn Tiger. Koivun told Thomas he expected nerves on his first tee shot but hoped to manage “adrenaline, nerves, everything like that to the best of my ability.” Thomas offered a warning and encouragement: “Today, you’re going to feel some things you’ve never felt before. … Everybody out here this week is going to have a lot of shots and a couple in particular that it’s like a borderline out-of-body experience. I know a lot of other 21-year-olds would kill for that feeling. It’s going to be great.”
Thomas said he is looking forward to watching Koivun in the “arena” of team competition. The pairing underscores how Thomas has shifted from rookie to mentor in the space of less than ten years, sharing his insights with the next generation as they prepare for the intensity of professional golf’s team events.
According to Yahoo Sports.