‘Must Be a Bit Desperate’: Golf Fans Sneer at Justin Thomas As He Makes Talk Show Debut

Pop culture and the realm of late-night television frequently overlap, bringing together personalities from diverse backgrounds. These programs give celebrities, from actors and artists to athletes and business owners, a stage on which to display their sense of humor and engage with viewers in a laid-back atmosphere. Renowned for its biting wit and political commentary,

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has recently established a connection with the world of professional golf, via Justin Thomas. This appearance marked JT’s second time on a late-night television show as he first appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2022.

A post where JT was seen chatting with host Stephen Colbert was uploaded by PGA Tour. Thomas is one of the golfers on the PGA Tour who is often loved by fans, and then in some moments, fan brutally troll him, mostly for his performance. Showing glimpses of his appearance, the caption read, “Burning the midnight oil with @JustinThomas34 and @ColbertLateShow.”

Burning the midnight oil with @JustinThomas34 and @ColbertLateShow ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/muxU0hdUQi

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 26, 2024

Thomas talked about a quite a few things on the show, like how Michael Jordan invited him to play golf. Recalling the incident, he said, “He (Jordan) wanted to play golf when he was in town and he had a friend who he played in the NBA with, Junior Bridgeman, who was friends with my dad and put the connection together and he would come out and play my dad’s course. And I would just be lucky enough to be out there when he was playing.” It was not until after two years, that Jordan invited “little man” to play with them.

The NBA star said to Thomas, “Little man go get your clubs, you’re going to play the last seven holes with us,’ He knew that I played golf, but he didn’t know that I was decent and nobody else had any idea. So he goes, ‘I’ll take little man for whoever wants us.’” The PGA Tour pro also talked about the struggle he had to face at Marco Simone during the Ryder Cup.

Zach Johnson’s choice to include Thomas in the team, and leaving aside other deserving candidates like Keegan Bradley was heavily criticized. Talking about the entire experience at the 2023 Ryder Cup, the golfer said, “I just love it because it’s an opportunity – you’re playing for something bigger than yourself. You’re playing for your country, your teammates, your captains. It’s a huge, huge sporting event, and I can’t suggest it enough to people to witness it, experience it if you haven’t before.”

Thomas’s appearance failed to impress the golf fans, as they thought of it as a desperate move. The post PGA Tour’s post garnered a lot of attention, and attracted plethora of reactions from the golf world.

Fans deem Justin Thomas’s late night show appearance as “desperate”
One fan had a very brutal comment to make on the golfer’s career trajectory. JT is great friends, and is even deemed to be Woods’s little brother. Keeping the friendship and the connections he has in mind, the fan said, “Justin is going to have a David Duval career, a fast start, lots of success, then just stay relevant for his connections and friendships and end up broadcasting and playing mediocre golf on the senior tour.” David Duval won one major and a total of 13 times on the PGA Tour in the span of his career. He now competes on the PGA Tour Champions.

Taking a jibe via the hypothetical statements that JT made, a fan said, “You recently had one of the worst putting performances on tour since 2005; tell me about that.” “At least I’m not on LIV.” In the third round of the Valspar Championship, Thomas gave the worst putting performance of his career. From a strokes-gained perspective, he did not come close to the 7.024 strokes he lost with the putter. The golfer totaled just 22 feet, 10 inches, on a whopping 38 putts as well.

One fan questioned the golfer’s intentions of going to the show at a time when he has been performing a little below average on the greens and claimed that he “must be a bit desperate to go on such a show as this.” He finished at T64 at the Valspar, missed the cut at THE PLAYERS and Genesis, T12 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and WM Phoenix Open. To top it all off, the worst-putting performance sealed the deal for JT’s criticism.

The comments section beneath the post became a virtual putting green for disgruntled fans to air their frustrations. Some fans questioned whether the format of late-night TV still continued, bringing into question the relevancy of such an event. One fan even took to commenting, “Late night television is still on?” expressing his discontent with the genre of television.

Ever since finishing T3 in the American Express held in January, he has failed to deliver. Will he soon come back in form? It remains to be seen!