Justin Thomas’ life has been changed with the arrival of a new baby and one of the first people to pick up the phone was golfing great Tiger Woods
Since he welcomed his first child into the world, Justin Thomas has admitted that he has seen “a new side” of Tiger Woods.
Thomas, 31, and his wife Jillian are in the early stages of parenthood, with their baby daughter Molly Grace being born on November 18, 2024. Of course, the golf world stops for no-one and Thomas still had a standing invitation to play with Woods, 48, at his ‘Hero World Challenge’ event in the Bahamas.
Thomas attended the event and opened up about Woods’ recent influence on his and his family’s life since his baby was born. As well as being golf rivals and friends, they are also neighbours who live close to each other in Jupiter, Florida.
As well as being a 15-time major winner, Woods is also a father of two children, Sam Alexis Woods and Charlie Axel Woods, the latter of whom is a promising golfer himself. Before he teed off in the Bahamas, Thomas opened up about Woods’ recent influence.
When asked about how Woods has helped him during the experience, Thomas said: “He’s been unbelievable. I mean, yeah. It’s definitely I’ve seen a new side of him. I mean, it’s just been really cool.
“He’s always checking in wanting to see how I’m doing, how Jill’s doing, how Molly’s doing. He knew when Jill’s surgery was and he called the night before asking how everybody’s doing.
“I hung up and I just looked at Jill and she said, ‘I bet you didn’t think that was going to happen when you were growing up’. I’m like, ‘No, I didn’t’.”
Woods has plenty of experience balancing fatherhood and golf ( Image: Getty Images)
Thomas added: “He loves his kids so much and he knows how special family is. He just knows even still being a competitor, like just the love you have for your children is so different and you don’t necessarily have to lose your competitive drive, and if anything it could get even more. It’s just about separating the two, but also just enjoying it and everything.”
Woods has been balancing fatherhood duties with being a golfing great for a long time, meaning he has a world of knowledge to impart on those in a similar situation. The golfing great has already given Thomas one of the most important pieces of advice he could give.
Thomas said: “I think he’s just, you know, he’s been great in terms of — he’s like ‘No, you go spend time with your family, you do this’. When I just want to talk to him, he’s like ‘No, take all this in’, the special moments or whatever. So he’s been really, really cool during all of this.”
Thomas has started the Hero Challenge well ( Image: Getty Images)
Thomas recorded a first-round 66 at the Hero Challenge, with a second-round 67 leaving him finely poised on the leaderboard among the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Akshay Bhatia and Keegan Bradley.
After Scheffler took control recording birdies on every single hole apart from the par 3s, Thomas said: “You literally can birdie every hole as soft as the greens are. He’s a great player, a great wedge player, and you have a lot of birdie holes to start.
“I’m honestly surprised he only shot 8 under. It’s a sneaky course because if you fall asleep on some shots, you can get out of position. But if you’re on and focused and really in control of everything — like these last two days with no wind — you can just make so many birdies.”
