Brooks Koepka’s LIV Golf Team Aims Dig At Justin Thomas
The Smash GC X account has made a cheeky dig at Thomas after his early exit from The Players Championship


Two-time Major winner Justin Thomas had a tournament to forget at The Players Championship, where rounds of 71 and 74 meant he became one of several big names to miss the cut.
While the 2021 champion is left to reflect on what might have been, LIV Golf team Smash GC aren’t prepared to let him forget comments he made before the tournament, which alluded to remarks made by one of its line-up, Talor Gooch, in February.
Gooch had suggested that if Rory McIlroy wins The Masters this year, it could have an asterisk because some LIV golfers who would likely have qualified if they were awarded world ranking points.
Before the TPC Sawgrass event, Thomas was asked how he felt about The Players Championship no longer being able to be billed as the best field in golf because of the absence of LIV golfers.
He defended the strength of the field, replying: “It's still been the best field in golf for many previous years. You could always make an argument that there's other tournaments that are or are not.”
Justin Thomas made the comment in his pre-tournament press conference
He then went on to reference Gooch’s controversial comment, saying: “I'm not going to have an asterisk next to my name for winning this because the field wasn't too good.”
In the wake of Thomas’ early exit from the event, the official Smash GC X account responded to a message repeating the quote in simple yet brutal fashion – a scissors icon.
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A high-profile dig at Thomas' failure to make the cut is probably the last thing he needs after a performance that began well enough, with a one-under on Thursday, before his 74 on Friday, which included four bogeys, sent him packing.
As for Smash GC’s cheeky dig at Thomas, it no doubt feels emboldened given the increasing strength of the LIV Golf roster, highlighted by the fact that five former winners of The Players Championship are now among its line-up, including Cameron Smith, who claimed victory just two years ago.
Meanwhile, Thomas can at least take comfort in the knowledge that his failure to make the weekend can be seen as a blip in an otherwise encouraging start to 2024. The 2022 PGA Champion suffered a slump in form last year, but before this week, he had made the top 20 in five of his six starts of 2024.

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.
He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.
Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.
Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.
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