Justin Thomas likes to speak his mind, but apparently so does the USGA, at least when it comes to the Rules of Golf. The governing body’s PR branch tweeted a response to criticism from Thomas Saturday evening that was critical in its own nature.
“Justin, we need to talk,” the tweet read. “You’ve cancelled every meeting we’ve planned with you, but we are reaching out again. We were at the first 5 events, and tournaments last year, and your tour has had a seat at the table for 7 years. We’d love nothing more than to give you a seat. Call us.”
Justin, we need to talk. You’ve cancelled every meeting we’ve planned with you, but we are reaching out again. We were at the first 5 events, and tournaments last year, and your tour has had a seat at the table for 7 years. We’d love nothing more than to give you a seat. Call us.
— USGA PR (@USGA_PR) March 2, 2019
Thomas has been outwardly critical of the new rules of golf that went into effect January 1 this year, and much more so recently. Just this week, Thomas complained about a rule after he tweaked one of his irons during the first round, and called the new rules “terrible” during pre-tournament interviews.
Then, on Saturday, after the PGA Tour penalized Adam Schenk two strokes for violating Rule 10.2b(4), Thomas tweeted at the USGA a bit sarcastically with one of its priorities in a hashtag.
#growthegame @USGA https://t.co/jc5E0Y7TjP
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) March 2, 2019
Thomas continued sounding off when pushed by a Twitter user, which eventually prompted the USGA response.
Totally agree… I more so say things in hopes that the USGA starts communicating with the current players to better the game and the sport. The rules are rules, no getting past that. Just hoping going forward, communication is had and ALL GOLFERS benefit from any changes ?? https://t.co/86TE7L8AnR
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) March 2, 2019
What will come of this? It sounds like an open invitation for communication between Thomas and the governing body. If anything is certain, it’s that the new rules have not been received well by everyone, particularly PGA Tour players.
