Justin Thomas Saves his Best for Last at Aronimink

Justin Thomas saved his best for the final round of the 108th PGA Championship at Aronimink.

But will it be enough?

Thomas – a two-time PGA Champion – began the final round six shots off the lead at even par and knew it would take a low number to sneak into contention.

Going out long before the leaders teed off, Thomas had a slow start. When he bogeyed the third hole, he dropped back to 1 over and seven shots out.

Then, he caught fire, shooting a 5-under 65 – his best score of the week by three shots – to take the early clubhouse lead at 5 under. When he dropped a crucial 16-footer for par on the final hole, Thomas had leapt 29 spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for second with a lot of golf left to play.

“I told Rev [caddie Matt Minister] on 18, we did our part,” said Thomas. “It's going to be tough. The thing I had going for me at Southern Hills [when he won in 2022] was I didn't have many people between me and the lead, and that is not the case this week. There is a lot. I definitely need some wind. I need a little bit of help. Again, I did my part, and I'm happy to wait, trust me.”

The first of Thomas’s six birdies came on the par-3 fifth. His tee shot on the 179-yard hol settled 8 feet from the hole and he rolled it home. With birdies on the par-4 seventh (22 feet) and the par-5 ninth (2 ½ feet), Thomas went out in 2-under 33.

Thomas charged on the back nine with birdies on Nos. 11 (4 feet), 15 (22 ½ feet) and 16 (8 feet). With pars on the final two holes, he came in with a 3-under 32 to post the 65.

“I hope it's very tough to make pars, if I'm being honest,” said Thomas, whose last top 10 in a major was a T8 at the 2024 PGA Championship. “I don't know, I felt the same -- obviously the first three days, I mean, the wind, it was nice to play some holes in not 25-mile-an-hour wind today selfishly. But it's just weird, you have so many scoring clubs, like you really can make -- I feel like you can make a lot of birdies, you just have to hit a really, really good shot. And it's very tough around the greens, and the greens are difficult to where, you know, you have to be putting it well. I feel like it's all about getting in the fairway. The ball's going a long way. You have some short clubs, but you definitely have some opportunities on the back nine, but you also have some holes that, if you miss the fairway, you're grinding to make par.”

Thomas is no stranger to making up ground in the final round of a PGA Championship.

Here is a chart – courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau – with all of Thomas's final round scores at the PGA Championship. His final-round scoring average of 68.56 is the third lowest in PGA Championship history among those who have played the final round at least five times. Only Kurt Kitayama (67.60, including today) and Scottie Scheffler (67.80 entering today) have lower Round 4 averages in the PGA Championship than Thomas.