Justin Thomas says his closet is "as EMPTY as ever" following Ralph Lauren split
JT: "I will say that I apologised many times for what I said, but I didn't publicly say, which I feel terrible about, that I didn't apologise to the people that were affected and offended by what I said."
Justin Thomas says now is not the time to get "wrapped up" about his next clothing deal after he revealed his closet is "as empty as ever" following his recent split with Ralph Lauren.
The world No.3 was axed by his long-term clothing sponsor after his homophobic slur last month and after being dumped by RLX, one of his other sponsors, Citibank, chose to stick with the PGA Tour star and help him learn from his mistakes.
“If I go to the mall and I see something I like, I see a shirt I like, I go home and I just get it embroidered with the Citi logo on the sleeve,” he said Tuesday, ahead of this week's Waste Management Phoenix Open. “It's definitely a bizarre and odd time, and my closet is as empty as it's ever been, but at the same time it feels right because it's a fresh start, and hopefully will be like that.”
Thomas has vowed to grow and do his part to raise more awareness for the LGBTQ community following his mistake and the 27-year-old says he is making progress every day.
“It's an ongoing process really,” said Thomas. “I don't expect to be a totally and completely different person now than I was then. It's just like my golf game. I'm continuing to try to progress and get better each and every day and each and every week. I've had some great conversations with a lot of friends, and the amount of support and sponsors and family friends that have reached out, that's probably meant a lot more than a lot of people know. That's kind of what's helped me get through all this.”
Thomas, who goes into this week's event as one of the favourites with the bookies, wanted to apologise once again, but more specifically address those who may have taken offence to his slur.
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“I will say that I apologised many times for what I said, but I didn't publicly say, which I feel terrible about, that I didn't apologise to the people that were affected and offended by what I said,” he said. “I feel like I should take the time now to say that.
“The biggest thing that I've learned from it is that I made a mistake and that I have a tremendous opportunity to learn and grow from it, just like I do in my golf game, just like I do in my everyday life. This is a part of my everyday life, and I have the opportunity to try to turn this into a positive and learn and grow from it as much as I possibly can.”
As for who may possibly replace RLX as Thomas' clothing sponsor, the 13-time PGA Tour winner says that his performance on the golf course needs to remain the priority, not which brand he will wear.
“I need to be playing golf, but I can't get wrapped up and focused on what clothing deal or whatever I want to do,” he said. “I need to be playing good golf, and I need to focus on that. That's what's most important right now, and whatever happens will take care of itself.”
