Two-time major champion Justin Thomas has an annual tradition of publicly revealing how close he came to accomplishing his goals for the season. And even after a year that he called his “least successful” on the PGA Tour, he isn’t shying away from airing out where he came up short.
Each December, Thomas posts a list of his goals for the previous season on Instagram, along with an accounting, aided by emojis, of which ones he accomplished and which ones he failed to achieve.
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Last year during the 2021-22 season, Thomas had an impressive record, successfully checking off eight of 13 goals, including winning his second major at the PGA Championship.
Unfortunately for this year’s post, 2023 was a difficult one for the Tour veteran that saw him fail to win and collect only four top-10 finishes, as Thomas painfully recorded for everyone to see.
In all, Thomas listed nine separate goals he had for the 2022-23 season. Among the hopes JT had for 2023 were to “Make Tour championship,” “Win 3+ times,” “Win 1+ major” and to reach “#1 in the world.” But next to each of these goals Thomas typed a red X emoji, acknowledging that the aim went unfulfilled.
In fact, only one of Thomas’ nine goals featured a green checkmark identifying it as a goal he reached: “Make Ryder Cup team…” But even that success was marred by another failure on the same line: “… and win the cup.” Team Europe handily defeated Thomas’ U.S. team at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome.
Thomas added a lengthy written message, in which he poked fun at his lack of accomplishments (“Well… at least I got one check mark!”) and explained why he puts himself through this public accounting each year.
“I’ve always been a goal setter, but also have enjoyed being candid about sharing them at seasons end,” Thomas wrote. “Everybody is different in their goal setting. I’ve always been one to set the bar high to try and work toward them and achieve them.”
But he also displayed a positive perspective on what he could learn from his disappointing season, and he expressed gratitude for his team and the things that did go well.
“While 2023 was my least successful year on @pgatour, it provided my best opportunity for learning experiences and areas to grow. I’m thankful to have an amazing team around me who works their tails off to continue to work hard to win tournaments and improve,” Thomas wrote. “We saw LOTS of positives and great things these last few months.”
For now, Thomas will take “a few weeks off with family and friends to relax,” and perhaps start crafting new goals for 2024, which will be Thomas’ 10th on the PGA Tour.
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