International Team faces big deficit

Nearly eight decades ago, a young boy trounced through the woods in search of work. Neither of his parents played golf, but this son of an auto mechanic had heard that caddying could be a good source of extra income.   It was 4 miles from his house to Avon Fields Golf Course in Cincinnati, Ohio. He made the commute on foot.   “I didn’t mind the walk over in the morning, but the walk home in the dark was spooky,� Paul Thomas said. He punctuates this sentence with a laugh, an acknowledgement that this scene – a 10-year-old boy walking through dark woods on the way home from work – is a remnant of a bygone era.    Paul didn’t have his own golf clubs, so he played his first rounds with the rental sets available at Avon Fields. The course let caddies play on Mondays. He remembers winning the caddie championship a few years later in the pouring rain.   These were the humble beginnings of a golfing genealogy that produced one of today’s top players. Paul Thomas begat Mike Thomas who begat Justin Thomas, the winner of the 2017 FedExCup and the defending champion at this week’s PGA Championship.   Paul Thomas turned pro as a teenager, but not for the same reasons his grandson made a similar move at age 20. Justin was a phenom who’d prepared his entire life for the pro ranks. Paul left school early to make a living.   “I was forced out (of school) because of finances, and that was the first opportunity at halfway decent employment,� Paul said. “I know it sure didn’t pay much in those days.�   Paul was a lifelong club pro, but also an accomplished player who competed in the same events as Palmer, Nicklaus and Hogan. Before Justin Thomas won golf’s richest prize, Paul would regale him with tales from professional golf’s hardscrabble days. Hearing about his grandfather’s brushes with the game’s greats stoked Justin’s passion for the game.   “He’s told me the same stories a million times, but I never tell him to stop,� Justin said. “I keep all his voicemails.�   His grandparents’ presence behind the 18th green was the reason Justin got emotional before hitting the final putt of his four-stroke victory at last week’s World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Paul and Phyllis Thomas had never been on-hand for one of their grandson’s nine PGA TOUR victories. Paul enjoyed ice cream for breakfast in player dining before watching Justin conquer the same Firestone course where he played the PGA Championship in 1960. Paul made the cut with a second-round 72 that even bested the great Ben Hogan by a stroke. As the courses have gotten longer and the crowds have grown larger, it’s become harder for Paul and Phyllis to watch their grandson play golf. They follow closely from their home in Columbus, Ohio, though. Paul was one of the first to call Justin after he won last year’s PGA at Quail Hollow. Paul felt the tension when Justin stepped to the tee at the watery par-3 17th and celebrated when his grandson’s 214-yard 7-iron stopped within 2 feet of the hole. “He stood up there like a man and just staked it,� Paul said. Paul could appreciate such a shot because he grew up in an era that demanded toughness. He took a crack at the TOUR as a 25-year-old in 1957, back when professional golf was still gaining traction and players caravanned across the country to play for pittance. Paul Thomas (center) stands next to his son Mike and grandson Justin. (Submitted photo) “I wasn’t nowhere near good enough. I was just scraping it together, anyway,� Paul said. “The TOUR was just getting organized. It was nothing like it is today. You’d enter one tournament from the last one.�   Paul served as an assistant pro at several clubs before becoming the head professional at Ohio’s Zanesville Country Club in 1963. He was 31 years old, and already had been a professional for 13 years.    He held the post for more than a quarter-century while remaining one of the top players in the Central Ohio PGA. He played with Arnold Palmer on the PGA TOUR Champions, made the cut in three U.S. Senior Opens and even beat former U.S. Open champion Tommy Bolt in an 18-hole exhibition.   Paul was an old-school instructor – “I don’t believe in theory because no two people are the same,� he said – whose students included two future LPGA Tour winners, Tammie Green and Michele Redman, and Mike Thomas, the second-oldest of his four sons.   Green, whose seven wins included one major, the 1989 du Maurier, lists Paul as the biggest influence on her career. Mike Thomas was a good amateur and an all-Ohio Valley Conference honoree at Morehead State before following his father into the club pro ranks.   Mike, too, enjoyed a lengthy tenure at one club, Harmony Landing Country Club outside of Louisville, and Justin reaped the benefits. The members were supportive of their head pro’s son, allowing him full use of the course and practice facility.   “You could tell when he was 7, 8, 9, 10 years old, he had something. You could tell that there was a big possibility there,� Paul said. “I remember telling him a long time ago that, as well as he drives the ball, don’t spend your time hitting those irons. Get out there and hit the sand wedge and the pitching wedge.�   The Thomas men all have strong short games. The putter was one of the strongest clubs in Paul’s bag. Mike was influenced by his father’s devotion to that aspect of the game, and he enjoyed practicing shots that he could see go in the hole. And Justin followed his father to the chipping green, a constant site of competition between three generations of Thomas men.   Paul won’t take credit for his grandson’s success, though.   “I would say the most help I ever gave him was playing with him and talking to him,� he said. “His dad is his only teacher, and that’s the way it should be.� Paul’s stories “influenced Justin’s love and passion� for the game, Mike said. Paul’s success as a player helped him teach course management and the art of playing the game. The older Thomases could be overly technical, though, so Mike tried to keep his instruction of Justin simple, focusing on the fundamentals. And after struggling to meet his father’s high standards, Mike also wanted to ensure his son had fun on the course. “My dad will be the first to tell you that he was pretty hard on me,� Mike Thomas said. “He had fun, but when it came to competition he was hard on himself. He was hard on himself, so he was hard on me. “That was a different era. Those guys truly did dig it out of the dirt.� Paul was born in 1931 in Ashland, Kentucky, a steel town on the border of West Virginia, but his family moved to Cincinnati when he was 5. Two of his early assistant-pro jobs took him to York, Pennsylvania, and Tequesta, Florida, where he worked for Ohio native and established PGA TOUR winner Dow Finsterwald at Tequesta Golf Club. Tequesta is a short distance from Jupiter, where Justin Thomas and a parade of other PGA TOUR players now live.   In 1958, Paul returned to Cincinnati to work as an assistant pro at Western Hills Country Club. He quickly established himself as one of the state’s top players. He won that year’s Southern Ohio PGA Championship to qualify for the PGA Championship. He never made it to the national championship, though.   Paul was declared ineligible because his membership to his new PGA section hadn’t yet transferred. Finsterwald, his old boss, won with a final-round 67, finishing two shots ahead of Billy Casper. Paul’s favorite player, Sam Snead, finished third.   There would be other PGA Championship chances earned, however. Paul played at Firestone CC in 1960 and Olympia Fields in ’61, and he also competed in the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont.   He missed the 54-hole cut at Firestone but had good company: Hogan, weeks after nearly winning his fifth U.S. Open, also failed to qualify for the final round.   Thomas remained a stalwart in his PGA section, twice winning the Central Ohio PGA Championship. His best success came in his 40s and 50s; he finished T15 in the 1983 U.S. Senior Open and played with Palmer in the final round of the Citizens Union Senior Golf Classic in Lexington, Kentucky. Thomas trailed Palmer by just a stroke entering the final round, but shot a 77 to Palmer’s 67. Those numbers have long since faded. The memory hasn’t.   Paul, 86, still plays a handful of times per week and gives the occasional lesson. He’s shot his age every year since turning 64. And, of course, he watches his grandson succeed in the family trade.   “After he showed that he was going to make it, I told him, ‘Only you can screw this thing up. It’s up to you to make something out of yourself,’� Paul said. “And he sure did.�

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Montreal, QC, Canada — An object in motion generally stays in motion, and just one event removed from his first professional victory at the ATB Financial Classic, Corey Pereira seems to have maintained his momentum through the off-week and into this week’s Mackenzie Investments Open presented by Jaguar Laval. With a staggering nine birdies on his round, the Mission Viejo, CA native played a bogey-free round for the seventh time this season and matched his lowest score relative-to-par as a professional golfer in the form of a 9-under 63 to set the Elm Ridge Country Club course record. “It was awesome, I really got it going out there,� said Pereira. “Tee-to-green, it was mediocre, but I haven’t putt that well in a long time; I seemed to make everything out there and golf is fun when it’s like that.� While a hot putter was the case in Montreal, just under a month ago in Calgary, the Washington University alum proved he could do it by striking the ball as well, firing rounds of 64-65-62-67. While Pereira self-admittedly struggled with the flat stick during his second round at the ATB Financial Classic, it was how he turned it around that won him the title. “I know how difficult it is to win; one warm day doesn’t mean it’s the summer,� said the second-year pro. “I can go out tomorrow and struggle, but I have to be prepared for anything, and there’s some things I need to tighten up if I want to win this tournament.� Currently in the No. 6 position on the Order of Merit, a win would solidify Pereira’s spot among The Five that gain Web.com Tour status at season’s end, and while Pereira knows this, it’s not something he is actively going to think about as the week goes on. “It’s huge being in that top-5, I know that,� said Pereira, who finished last season at No. 39 on the Order of Merit. “I can only control my game, take it one shot at a time, try to shoot the lowest score I can and see where the numbers stack up.� Two Canadians currently sit in a tie for 13th at 4-under, Luke Moser, who Monday qualified into the event, and Sebastian Szirmak, a Quebec native playing this week on a Sponsor’s Exemption. The duo leads the charge for the Freedom 55 Financial Canadian Player of the Week award, while Mackenzie Tour regulars this season Taylor Penrith and Michael Gligic sit in a tie for 42nd at 2-under. Key Information  When asked about his ability to take rounds way under-par, Corey Pereira made reference to his closest call to a 59 at Cameron Park Country Club, his home club in California. Playing with his course-record holding friend, Pereira had a putt for 59 on the final hole that would not only get him to the elusive number for the first time but would also break his pal’s record by one. While Pereira left the putt on the lip, he says it’s rounds like those back home that taught him how to play freely when under par.  Entering the week at No. 65 on the Order of Merit, Theo Humphrey played his best round since the Windsor Championship in July, avoiding any bogeys to fire a 66 to put him in a tie for third place.  With his spot in the Freedom 55 Financial Championship secured, Blake Olson has his sights set on more as he comes into the Mackenzie Investments Open presented by Jaguar Laval in spot No. 42 on the Order of Merit. In search of his third top-10 of the season, Olson made eight birdies, including two to close out his round, to shoot 65.  While Paul McConnell opened the season strongly with back-to-back top-15 finishes to start the year, he has struggled since, missing three cuts. However, on Thursday at Elm Ridge the University of Texas-Arlington alum was back in form, making five birdies in a row from hole Nos. 13-17 before closing with a par to fire a 66.  Last season, JD Tomlinson finished the season as the odd-man out in spot No. 61 on the Order of Merit, giving him no status on the Mackenzie Tour. Working his way back onto the Tour, Tomlinson comes into Montreal in a similar position, currently at number 59. The Gainesville, FL native did himself a favour on Thursday, making six birdies to fire a 67 to sit comfortable in a tie for sixth.  Zach Wright, who, while playing consistently, has cooled slightly since his dominant start to the season, looks to solidify his spot at No. 2 on the Order of Merit with a good finish this week at Elm Ridge. The Louisiana State product got off on the right foot on Thursday, carding a bogey-free 67 to sit in a tie for sixth.  Order of Merit leader Tyler McCumber, winner of three of the past four Mackenzie Tour events, played his worst first round since the season-opening Freedom 55 Financial Open, making four birdies and two bogeys to shoot 70. Quotable “I just tried to shoot 59 when I had that going, and my home course is like that, it plays pretty easy and we shoot some low rounds out there, so I try to go as low as I can, and I feel like I’m comfortable under-par and I’m comfortable going more under par. My background helped me today.� – Corey Pereira “I just played pretty solid, hit the driver really well, gave myself some short irons and then just made a couple putts, so it was an easy day overall. The wind was starting to pick up towards the end of the day, so it was a bit more difficult for the guys in the afternoon, but overall I played really good.� – Blake Olson “I’ve got other goals, like, trying to get into the top-10 and we’ve got two weeks to do it, so I’m trying to do all I can and just play well each day. Being aggressive off the tees and being patient coming in is just really a priority, so that’s what I’m going to try to do all week.� – Blake Olson “I started off hitting a snap hook on the first hole and thought, ‘oh boy, this might not be good,’ but I ended up making a great par putt, about an eight-footer, on one of the easiest holes on the golf course. To make that save to start the day allowed me to have a good round, and I hit the ball really well after that and ended up shooting a good score.� – Theo Humphrey “I think I’ve been too focused most of this year on end results, trying to do this or trying to do that, I just need to go out there and play good golf and that usually adds up pretty well.� – Theo Humphrey First-Round Weather: Warm and sunny, 23 degrees Celsius with minimal wind.

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