In light of the upcoming Leachman Buick, GMC, Cadillac Sate Golf Championships the Sporting Times is taking a look back at the great golfers that have participated in the championships. October 4-5 are set for the Girls Championships and Oct 7-8th are the boys. Between now and October 4th, ST will be highlighting several of the great players who have competed in the Championships.
Justin Thomas
In 2009, Justin Thomas had one mission in mind which was to win the prestigious Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac State High School Golf championships. The Championships were held at the Bowling Green Country Club which hosted the best male and female golfers from around the state. Thomas mission was accomplished by firing a two day total 142 tied with Scott Barnhart from Lexington Christian. The two players had a playoff and after the second hole, Thomas prevailed to capture the coveted Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac State Championship.
There are so many great players from Kentucky that have gone on to have great collegiate careers and professional careers in golf. The Sporting Times will be highlighting some of those players prior to the 2016 Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac State Championships which begin the week of October 4-5 for girls and 7-8 for boys.
Justin Thomas graduated from St. Xavier High School in 2011.[1] He played college golf at the University of Alabama where he won six times.[2] He also played on the 2013 NCAA Division I Championship team. He won the Haskins Award in 2012 as the most outstanding collegiate golfer. As an amateur, Thomas played in the 2009 Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour where he became the third youngest golfer to make the cut in a PGA Tour event, aged 16 years, 3 months and 24 days.[3]
Thomas turned professional in 2013 and earned his tour card on the Web.com Tour through qualifying school. He won his first professional event at the 2014 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship.[4] He has played several PGA Tour events with his best finish a T-3 at the 2016 Players Championship. Thomas finished fifth in the 2014 Web.com Tour regular season, and third after the Web.com Tour Finals, to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2014–15 season.
In 2015, Thomas collected seven top-10s and 15 top-25s, with fourth places finishes at the Quicken Loans National and Sanderson Farms Championship as best results. He finished 32nd at the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup, losing the Rookie of the Year award to Daniel Berger.
On November 1, 2015, Thomas earned his first victory on the PGA Tour by winning the CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by a single stroke over Adam Scott. He overcame a double bogey on the 14th hole during the final round and had to hole a six-foot par putt to claim the win. Thomas had earlier shot a course record 61 during the second round to contribute to a 26-under-par winning score.
In 2016, Thomas has won 1 PGA tour event and has had 7 top 10 finishes, 15 top 25 finishes and has earned over 6 million dollars in prize money since he turn pro in 2013.
