“Neither. I was just thinking about how I needed to just make as many birdies as I could. Yeah, I tried to play a little pissed off today, to be honest,” JT told the media. “I vented and kind of got everything off my chest to my wife Jill last night. Credit to her, she gave great advice. She was like, well, use that tomorrow. She’s seen me play pissed off. I’ve done it in Ryder Cups a lot, and it’s like sometimes it brings a little different energy and a different side out of it.”
“So I’ve got to give her a lot of credit for that because I tried to use that out of my finish and round today to play today and shoot as low as I could,” he added.
When asked about it, JT credited his wife. He said his wife sent him a text on Wednesday that kept him focused and changed his mindset. Her message reminded him to remember why he plays and to enjoy the game rather than overthink it. A year before this, in an interview, Thomas spoke highly of the sacrifices Jillian makes for his golfing lifestyle.
“I’m so fortunate that she is as patient and kind and halts her life for the lifestyle that I live.”
He also credited her for helping him during periods when he was in a pretty bad space mentally. The couple got married on November 12, 2022, in a private ceremony in Franklin, Tennessee. They first started dating around 2016. Now, they are parents to a beautiful daughter named Molly Grace, whom they welcomed in November 2024.
Playing pissed off has worked for Justin Thomas in the past. The 33-year-old has been open about these emotional swings. After a two-year winless drought, he missed the cut for the 2024 Presidents Cup team, and that led him to start 2025 with a pissed-off mindset. It helped. He finally got a win at the 2025 RBC Heritage.
Even after winning there, he did not forget to praise his wife: “I’ve worked my butt off and stayed patient and stayed positive. I got a great wife, a great team, and now a great daughter.”
Coming off a round of 72 at Aronimink, he was already pissed. He revealed that he was sour after Round 3 and spent much more time practicing than he otherwise would have. So, all he needed was to channel that frustration in the right direction, and his wife, Jillian Wisniewski, helped him with that.
With the emotional reset helping him rediscover his aggressive edge, Justin Thomas shifted his focus toward one thing on Sunday.
Justin Thomas didn’t look at the leaderboard at all on the final day
Despite still being in contention, strengthening his chances of winning the event was a long shot. However, he didn’t measure that journey with a target score in mind. Instead, he was focused only on scoring low.
“I just said, ‘Look, I need to shoot as low as I possibly can, whether that’s two over, three under, or nine under; I don’t care. I need to shoot as low as I possibly can and see where that puts me,” he said.
But if he had to pick a number, he said that six would have been ideal and seven would have significantly improved his chances. Considering the bunched leaderboard, a 4- or 5-under par score was not enough for him.
He has done his part, and all he can do now is wait. JT has already experienced a playoff at this major when he defeated Will Zalatoris in the 2022 PGA Championship. Now, whether he wins or not, Thomas can leave the PGA Championship knowing he gave himself a real chance with the pissed-off play. And in the end, the mindset that fueled his comeback once again traced back to a conversation with Jillian Wisniewski.
