WATCH: Justin Thomas Plays Down Wrong Hole On Purpose

Justin Thomas purposely hit his drive down the wrong fairway on the 12th hole

justin thomas plays down wrong hole

Justin Thomas purposely hit his drive down the wrong fairway on the 12th hole

WATCH: Justin Thomas Plays Down Wrong Hole On Purpose

The 12th hole at TPC Boston caused some controversy at the Dell Technologies Championship, with Gil Hanse adding in two new bunkers on the tough 486 yard par-4 and altering the fairway from playing downhill to uphill, with a drop off at the 300-yard mark.

Before the tournament, Justin Thomas was critical of the 12th, saying the old hole was "one of the better holes" and that "you don’t need to change it.”

The USPGA Champion decided to play the hole slightly differently in the final round, purposely playing down the adjacent 13th fairway and then coming into the green from there.

Two trees had been removed as well to make the shot easier.

Watch his tee shot in the final round:

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In the end he hit the green in regulation and made par. He would go on to make two further birdies and win by three.

It wasn't the first time he'd played down the 13th this week, he did it in three of the four rounds including on day one.

WATCH: Leishman nutmegs cameraman with shank in Dell Technologies Championship

After his first round he explained the decision:

“I knew that they were going to be confused, or not know what was going on. But I just felt like that was the best way to play the hole today.

justin thomas plays down wrong hole

How JT played the 12th in the final round. (Screenshot: PGATour.com)

“I still don't think it's a very good hole, but I just felt like with when it's a little bit helping like that, you can hit it far enough up that left.

Related: Justin Thomas What's in the bag?

“If I had hit a good drive this morning (he hit it too far left but still made par), I could have hit 7-iron or something in there, whereas if you go up the right without going through the fairway, the closest you're going to get is 195 yards or so.”

Justin Thomas won his fifth PGA Tour title of the season with victory and moves to 1st in the FedEx Cup standings and up to a career-high 4th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

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Elliott Heath
News Editor

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!


Elliott is currently playing:


Driver: Titleist TSR4

3 wood: Titleist TSi2

Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1

Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5

Ball: Srixon Z Star XV