Justin Thomas took a swipe back at the USGA Sunday, a day after the national golf governing body called out Thomas and accused him of avoiding several meetings with the group over changes in the rules of golf enacted this year.
But it appears they’ll be settling their differences in person and not across social media.
“It was a little shocking. It was a little upsetting just because it was inaccurate,” Thomas said Sunday of the USGA’s claims. “I haven’t canceled anything, especially any meetings. But it is what it is, and all I want is the best for the game of golf and the best for the sport, and that’s what we’re going to continue to try to communicate with each other to get that.
“It is unfortunate. It just was — it really hurt me.”
After Thomas launched into a Twitter rant about the two-stroke penalty assessed against Adam Schenk Saturday, the USGA Tweeted that Thomas had “cancelled every meeting we’ve planned” and added that he and the USGA “needed to talk.”
USGA senior managing director of championships John Bodenhamer told Golf Channel that he hopes to meet with Thomas, ranked No. 3 in the world, this week to discuss some of his criticisms of the new Rules of Golf.
“Look, it’s clear, I’m sure to everyone, that direct communication is the best way to go,” Bodenhamer said. “That’s where we’re going to go with this. We’re going to talk with Justin, and we’re happy we’ll have an opportunity to have a conversation in a few days, hopefully.”
Thomas agreed that he and representatives from the USGA will talk soon, but added that he’s been a little busy of late.
“We’re definitely going to talk at some point, but we’ve had conversations this year multiple times with a couple different people,” Thomas said. “It’s not like it hasn’t happened. It hasn’t been the last three weeks because I’ve been at a tournament, and that’s my main focus.”
Thomas shot a 71 Sunday to finish even overall and T30 in the Honda Classic.
