Former Alabama All-American Justin Thomas will play in a PGA Tour tournament for the first time since September on Thursday, and he spent about 20 minutes talking with reporters about his return on Wednesday afternoon.
But after detailing his journey back to competition, Thomas faced one more question – from former Auburn great and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member Charles Barkley, who started his interaction by chastising Thomas.
“First of all, he lied,” Barkley told the press-conference crowd “You don’t know how to read. You went to Alabama. But my question is: When Alabama was getting rolled by Indiana, where exactly were you at?”
The Crimson Tide lost to Indiana 38-3 in the Rose Bowl during the College Football Playoff on Jan. 1.
“I was at home,” Thomas said. “Yeah, I was at home probably just looking at my phone waiting for some kind of sarcastic text from you or, all of a sudden, all of these huge Indiana football fans that were friends of mine that I had no idea about.
“So, yeah, I should have reached out to you how you deal with big losses like that. I mean, you’ve gone through that more than I have, so I should have just asked you.”
To Thomas’ answer, Barkley replied: “That was well-played.”
Barkley brought up Thomas’ reading ability because the golfer had been asked to name the best book he read while he was away from the golf course.
“Matthew McConaughey’s book ‘Greenlights’ is pretty good,” Thomas said. “I really like that one. Although every single person I told about reading it responded with, ‘You should have listened to it on audio.’ And I’m just proud of myself that I actually read the book.”
Thomas is scheduled to tee off at 12:20 p.m. CST Thursday with Hideki Matsuyama in the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida.
After playing in the Ryder Cup on Sept. 28, Thomas announced on Nov. 14 he had undergone a microdiscectomy to relieve a disc problem that had caused nagging hip pain. He warmed up for his return by playing for the Atlanta Drive Golf Club in a TGL match on Feb. 23.
“Feeling good,” Thomas said. “I’m obviously excited to start the season. Been watching a lot of golf, so I’m excited to be playing it in competition for myself this week. I mean, there’s not much else to say other than that. I’m excited to be back out.”