Other than having to contend with the superb play of Colombian Nico Echavarria, who has more than matched him shot for shot, Justin Thomas is having a tremendous week in the Zozo Championship. He’s shot 66-64-65 at Narashino Country Club in Shiba, Japan, and heads into the final round Saturday night (U.S. time) only two shots back of Echavarria in trying to notch his first win since the 2022 PGA Championship.
We’ll be looking back at a huge break (or was it showing incredible skill?) that Thomas got in third round if he pulls it off.
WHAT?! 🤯
@JustinThomas34 narrowly avoided a water ball by skipping it across the pond and into the fairway … and walked away with a par! pic.twitter.com/UHqw7NGCLf— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 26, 2024
At the par-4 fourth, Thomas drove right and into a tree line, with 205 yards left to the hole, over a pond. The distance from deep rough and a tree in front of him wasn’t going to allow Thomas to loft the ball high, so he hit a stinger iron. The camera caught him saying, “Skip … skip,” and sure enough, the ball made a splash in the water, causing the announcers to say, “Oh” … and then it jumped onto the fairway short of the green.
“Unbelievable” was the reaction in the booth, followed by, “Give him the trophy now.”
We never want to see shots like this go wasted, and Thomas didn’t disappoint. From 42 yards, he hit a deft chip to just 2 feet and saved a water par. He ended up not suffering a bogey in the round and only has one for the entire week.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com