Justin Thomas on missing World No.1: "I couldn't stop thinking about it"
Chance to get to World No.1 weighs on Justin Thomas in loss to Bubba Watson.
Justin Thomas has revealed the weight of becoming World No.1 with victory over Bubba Watson in the semi-final of the WGC Match Play Championship was too much to handle on Sunday morning.
Thomas suffered a 3&2 loss at the hands of eventual winner Watson in their semi-final match, with Thomas then going on to lose out in the consolation match to Alex Noren 5&3 on Sunday evening.
As a result, Thomas remains in the world number two spot behind Dustin Johnson, who now enjoys a 58th consecutive week at the summit.
"I haven't had such a hard time not thinking about something so much," a candid Thomas told reporters after his loss to Watson.
"That really sucked. I couldn't stop thinking about it, to be perfectly honest. And I think you're constantly getting questions about it with the media, but I need to be mentally stronger than that, and understand that it's just a match."
Thomas has won eight times on the PGA Tour, with six of those victories including a maiden major at the US PGA coming since the start of 2017.
The 24-year-old American has a chance to become World No.1 in two weeks time at The Masters, alongside third-ranked Jon Rahm.
Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose could also enter that race at The Masters should they finish high up the board in Houston this week.