Justin Thomas, the world’s third-ranked golfer, has issued an apology after he was caught referring to himself with a homophobic slur after missing a four-foot putt at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, Hawaii.
The 27-year-old Thomas, winner of 13 PGA Tour events, was overheard on The Golf Channel muttering the word “f*ggot” to himself after missing the short putt, but was immediately apologetic when he realized his faux pas, admitting his embarrassment at the incident.
Big fan, not a great look.Are we gonna apologize for the language here @JustinThomas34@PGATOUR ? pic.twitter.com/QvIYdOv7F9
“There’s just no excuse. I’m an adult, I’m a grown man,” the remorseful Thomas later said.
“There’s absolutely no reason for me to say anything like that. It’s terrible. I’m extremely embarrassed. It’s not who I am. It’s not the kind of person that I am. But it’s … unfortunately, I did it and I have to own up to it and I’m very apologetic.
“Like I said, it’s in excusable. I’m speechless. … it’s bad. There’s no other way to put it. I need to do better. I need to be better. It’s definitely a learning experience.
“I deeply apologize to anyone and everybody who I offended and I’ll be better because of it.”
Twitter, as ever, was split on Thomas’ indiscretion, with some suggesting that the furore over his use of the word was overblown – while others suggested that there was no place in sport for language of this type.
Has cancel cultural weighed in on this horrific act of violence?
God damn people are too soft these days. None of you would last 10 seconds in a Call of Duty lobby.
Hope someone can get @JustinThomas34 to talk about why he used the language he did after missing his par putt on 4. I’m all for these guys being able to swear and show emotion, but if I heard what I’m pretty positive I heard, then that’s really, really not good.
It was reported by ESPN that Thomas is likely to be issued with a fine due to his transgression by the PGA Tour, who also released a statement in which they were fiercely critical of Thomas’ actions.
“As he expressed after his round, we agree that Justin’s comment was unacceptable,” they said.
Despite the missed putt and the ensuing media frenzy, Thomas hit a five under par third round on Saturday to to move to 17 under for the tournament, four points behind leaders Ryan Palmer and Harris English as they head into Sunday’s final day.
