Last May, Justin Thomas revealed that he was three months into a gluten-free, dairy-free diet, and the man was going through it. “I’d do some messed up things for a pizza just doused in ranch,” Thomas told the media at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Unfortunately, the dietary change was a necessary evil for Thomas, who had noticed a series of concerning health issues from the year prior that led him consult a doctor and make a switch. The two-time PGA Champion stuck to the plan, too, claiming he only does things 100 percent. The original goal was sixth months of dairy-free, one year of gluten-free.
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Technically, Thomas is just one month away from completing the mission. But, as he admitted on Tuesday at the Hero World Challenge, a moment of weakness after the Open Championship has led him back to the dark side, and he has legitimate reasons for it.
“When I started it was — I was supposed to go six months of dairy free, a year of gluten free. I think six months was right when I was over in the U.K. for the Scottish and British [Opens] and I’m like, I’m not going to start this back up in the middle of a tournament because I didn’t know how my body was going to react. Literally not having anything for six months, I thought there was a chance my body would freak out.”
In other words, Thomas actually extended the dairy-free portion of the diet to avoid causing a wild reaction in his body. Warrior-type stuff. However, when he returned to the states for the 3M Open in Minnesota, it was game on. Diet… OVER.
“After shooting about 400 the first two days at the Open Championship, when I got to Minnesota I got a gluten-free pizza like on Monday or Tuesday and I swear I could have cried, it was so good,” he said.
“And honestly, I just — I slowly implemented dairy again the next two weeks and I didn’t feel any different, which I was shocked, to be honest. I was pleasantly surprised. I called Ara [Dr. Ara Suppiah], who I’ve been working with. I’m like, I’m having gluten, I don’t feel any different after having this again, so I’m going to have it and see how it is. And here we are.”
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In fairness, he made it half a year both gluten and dairy-free, which is sixth months more than most of us can say. Also, as he was quick to point out, the dietary restrictions were not exactly helping him on the golf course. Thomas had by far his worst year as a professional in 2023. Ipso, facto, not eating pizza leads to bad golf. It’s science.
“It wasn’t exactly during my best stretch of golf,” Thomas said. “So I would say if I had it over, I would not do it. Yeah, it’s one of those things, I don’t really give 50 percent too much. I feel like if I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it. I’m going to want to know how it is. If you guys hear of me doing that again, tell me to stop.”
Friends don’t let friends not eat the pizza. You only live once, baby.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
