Golf Pro Justin Thomas’ recent spotlight & local connection

ZANESVILLE, OHIO- Golfing Pro Justin Thomas has been a big winner on the PGA Tour and has an important local connection.

He won the Sony Open this past Sunday with a score of 59, which is the lowest 72-hole score in PGA Tour history.

Mike Durant, Zanesville Golf Pro, said that Thomas is originally from Louisville, Kentucky, but Justin’s father, Mike Thomas, a Zanesville native, went to Zanesville High School and is in the Zanesville District Golf Hall of Fame.

Mike’s father, Paul Thomas, was also the golf professional at the Zanesville Country Club for 27 years.

Durant said that he remembers Justin from when he was just a young boy.

“Mike [Thomas] would come up for the Genesis Pro-AM events as a playing professional and he would bring Justin, ” said Durant.  Durant said that at the time, Justin was just around 10-years-old.  “Mike [Thomas] would socialize with us fellow pros and have a good time, but we noticed that all the time, that the crowd would be around Justin even at a young age as he was putting on the green and hitting balls.”

Durant said he and the other pros knew that Justin had the potential to be a great golfer one day.

“We’ve all known that Justin was going to be special, you know there’s a legacy, a Thomas legacy in this community with Paul and Mike and now Justin.”

Durant said that it’s very special to have this connection within the Thomas family.  He said the one thing that sticks out to him about Justin is how humble and gracious he is, both on and off the course.