Justin Thomas is one of the most recognized golfers on the planet, with the American a two-time Major winner, as well as a former World No.1. Along with his classy golf, he is also a crowd favourite and, at the PGA Championship, that showed as JT gave his wedge to a fan during the final round at Oak Hill.
Thomas, who was paired with Phil Mickelson during the final day, had struggled during the last 18 holes and, following his round, it was revealed by Dan Rapaport that JT had given the fan his wedge after it was damaged by the bunkers.
Justin Thomas just gave this kid his 60 degree wedge because the bunkers just absolutely chewed it up this week. pic.twitter.com/0LSxf5hVLgMay 21, 2023
Beginning his final round, the 30-year-old made a double-bogey and bogey on his front nine to sit three-over-par for his round. From there, he made birdies at the 10th and 13th, before a bogey at the 17th meant a round of two-over and tournament total of 12-over-par for a T68 finish.
A Titleist staffer, JT would likely have a new Vokey wedge in his bag by the time he had got back to the clubhouse but, it was certainly a nice gift for the onlooking young fan, who can head home with a piece of golfing memorabilia.
It's not the first time we've seen players giving away gifts to fans during this week's PGA Championship. On Wednesday, Joel Dahmen struck a fan on the calf with an errant shot and, following the incident, gifted him a nice $100 bill to get the beers in.
Along with Thomas and Dahmen, Eddie Pepperell famously gave away his lob wedge to a fan on the final hole at the D+D Real Czech Masters because he was the only one cheering for him. At the time, the Englishman stated: "He told me my ball hit a sprinkler on the last and kicked on and he gave me a clap for my shot. He was the only one I heard clapping so I said, 'Here you go, you can have my lob wedge.'"
One last similar story came in 2018, when Danny Lee gave his putter to a young fan after missing the cut at the Greenbrier Classic. The 32-year-old had been using an Odyssey mallet that day, but lost more than three shots to the field.