New World No 1 Justin Thomas hopes to stay at the top for a long time. The two-time CIMB Classic champion replaced Dustin Johnson as the world’s leading golfer following a T11 finish at The Players Championship.
“It means a lot but it’s something I want to have for a long time … it’s not something I just want to have once or to have it for a week and then be done with. Like DJ has and like Tiger did and other guys who have had it for a long time, that’s more of a goal of mine,” said Thomas, who carded rounds of 68 and 66 over the weekend to storm up the leaderboard at TPC Sawgrass.
“I want to have it for a really long time because that means I’m playing better than everybody else for an extended period of time. But at the same time, get hot for a year, couple years or two years or something, have it and then fall off the map, that doesn’t really mean a whole lot to me. I would much rather continue to play well for another five to 10 years and see how long I can have it,” he added.
Thomas has won eight times on the PGA Tour including back-to-back CIMB Classic titles in 2015 and 2016. Last August, the 25-year-old claimed his first Major with a two-shot victory in the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.
