Justin Thomas insists he’s not scared in again lambasting the USGA should they get the U.S. Open set-up wrong at Pebble Beach.

The year’s now third Major, and commencing along the Pacific Ocean shoreline at Carmel in California, was rocked earlier this week with suggestions some of the game’s leading players, including past U.S. Open winners in Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson, were prepared to boycott the event due to continual concerns over the USGA simply ‘always getting it wrong’.

Thomas was at the centre of a golfing storm earlier this year when the USGA sent out a public tweet stating:  “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”.

The tweet came about during February’s Honda Classic when Thomas responded to a question concerning the newly-introduced USGA & RandA sanctioned rules that took effect on January 1st and with Thomas declaring:  “The new rules are terrible”.

And now in being confirmed to be teeing-up in July’s Aberdeeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, Thomas was again asked his views on the latest USGA-centred debate that McIlroy and Johnson were among a number of players cited in a US Golf Digest article that had considered boycotting U.S. Open’s.

“I think it’s pretty obvious on where I stand with the U.S. Open and the USGA.  We’ve had our difficulties, you know, the last six months or whatever it is,” said Thomas in a phone-conference hook-up at The Renaissance Club in Scotland.

“But my frustration with them and the setup of the U.S. Open is just how the PGA Tour does such a great job in setting up the golf tournaments the entire year, and you know, we feel like the U.S. Open kind of gets away from us or gets out of hand almost every year.

“For us, it’s like we play these amazing golf courses like Shinnecock or Oakmont or Merion or whatever it might be to where the golf courses don’t need tricked up.  They don’t need to be set up any harder than they already are.  Yet we feel like one day gets out of hand, and we end up losing the course or something, and that’s not really fair or what any of us want.  That’s the frustration from my side or one of our sides.

“At the end of the day, the U.S. Open is a U.S. Open and a major and I’m always going to play in it, but I can … you know, I can get over the fact of not liking a couple holes in a set up to try and win a major.

you know, I can get over the fact of not liking a couple holes in a set up to try and win a major.
Q. If the USGA do allow Pebble Beach to get out of hand again, do you feel that the boycott is
still on the table for some of the players on the Tour?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I'm not sure. I mean, I think there was talks very briefly, but that was … I think that
was pretty early in my career to where I definitely did not feel comfortable having really a voice of opinion
in that.
I don't know. I think the last couple years, the last year or so, it's been good for the game because guys
are becoming a little bit more out spoken and honest. But we never want to come off as complaining or
bratty, if you will. But at the end of the day, this is what we do and we want to make sure it's as good as
possible and fair. So, I'm sure you'll all understand that sometimes it's hard for everybody else and other
people to understand it.
At the end of the day, I think we're getting to the point now where if stuff gets out of control, we don't feel
like we have to hold back anymore. We can kind of say how we feel.