The ‘new side’ of Tiger Woods? Justin Thomas has witnessed it up close

There are many benefits to being friends with Tiger Woods.

Justin Thomas knows this well.

Take this week, for instance. At Tiger’s Hero World Challenge event in the Bahamas, Thomas essentially has a standing invitation to compete. But the friendship goes both ways. Despite having a major life development in the past month, Thomas made the flight to the Bahamas to show up for Tiger.

Thomas and Woods, who leave near each other in Jupiter, Fla., bonded long ago, and have since become close, spending time with each other’s families and playing golf together when they both are healthy. Thomas has even built a good rapport with Woods’ son Charlie, as seen annually at the PNC Championship.

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While they’re both multiple major-winning PGA Tour stars, as of two weeks ago, they share something else in common: fatherhood.

Thomas and his wife Jill welcomed into the world their daughter, Molly, the couple’s first child, last month. And Tiger was all over it, checking in with the Thomases before and after the birth.

On Wednesday, in his Hero World Challenge press conference, Thomas explained that the whole experience revealed a “new side” of Tiger that he hadn’t seen before.

“He’s been unbelievable. I mean, yeah. It’s definitely I’ve seen a new side of him. I mean, it’s just been really cool,” Thomas said. “He’s always checking in wanting to see how I’m doing, how Jill’s doing, how Molly’s doing. He knew when Jill’s surgery was and he called the night before asking how everybody’s doing. I hung up and I just looked at Jill and she said, I bet you didn’t think that was going to happen when you were growing up. I’m like no, I didn’t.”

While the parenting advice will surely start flowing from the Woods household over to the Thomases in the coming months and years, for now, Thomas is holding Tiger up as an example of how to successfully balance a pro golf career and being a parent.

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“He loves his kids so much and he knows how special family is. He just knows even still being a competitor, like just the love you have for your children is so different and you don’t necessarily have to lose your competitive drive, and if anything it could get even more,” Thomas said about Woods. “It’s just about separating the two, but also just enjoying it and everything.”

But more than anything, the number one advice Tiger has already doled out on Justin is to make sure he appreciates this special, fleeting experience in his family’s life, even if it means spending less time on the phone with the 15-time major champion,

“I think he’s just, you know, he’s been great in terms of — he’s like no, you go spend time with your family, you do this. When I just want to talk to him, he’s like no, take all this in, the special moments or whatever, so he’s been really, really cool during all of this.”

Thomas tees off for the opening round the Hero on Thursday at 12:25 p.m. ET in the final pairing alongside Keegan Bradley.