Justin Thomas left with caddie decision at PGA | Golf News

Caddie Joe Greiner has been in the highlight after a collection of high-profile switches, and the drama intensified at the PGA Championship, where a lot of the dialog has been around mud balls and the situation of the course.

Greiner’s departure from Max Homa, who was vocal about not initiating the break up, got here just before the Masters. He then joined forces with Justin Thomas, aiding him to finish his winless run with a triumph at the RBC Heritage final month.

Despite the success, Thomas maintained that Greiner’s position was a stopgap until his common caddie, Matt “Rev” Minister, returned from a back damage. Consequently, Greiner discovered a new gig with Collin Morikawa, one other high PGA Tour participant.

In an ironic twist, PGA Championship organizers positioned Thomas and Morikawa in the identical group, main to an awkward encounter with Greiner so soon after their skilled paths diverged.

Thomas skilled a tough begin at Quail Hollow, mirroring the struggles of Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson by going +4 through the front-nine.

However, he rallied on the back-9 with three consecutive birdies, pulling his rating down to +1, only to bogey the 18th and close the day at +2. Morikawa, on the opposite hand, had a more favorable first spherical, ending one-under-par. He continued his momentum into Day 2 with an early birdie.

The change to Greiner for Morikawa adopted his own break up from longtime caddie JJ Jakovac. They debuted as a group at the Truist Championship final week, where Morikawa tied for seventeenth place at seven-under.

At the Truist, Thomas’ caddie Minister confirmed his fitness for the PGA Championship and advised Mirror U.S. Sports he was “feeling much better.”

He added that competing in the RBC Heritage had been unattainable, as he “couldn’t have played the week after.” When questioned about whether or not he felt envious watching Thomas win with Greiner as caddie, Minister responded, “Of course!”.

DON’T MISS

Thomas secured a T2 end at Truist after Shane Lowry bogeyed the 18th gap. He expressed his delight at having Minister by his facet once again.

“It was great to [have him back],” he mentioned. “I missed him every step of the way at Augusta and at Hilton Head. It would have been really cool to obviously win with the first week with him back. I know our time is coming. We’ve just got to keep our head down and keep doing what we’re doing and just stay patient.”