Justin Thomas played quite well at Aronimink Golf Club today. He looked sharp for most of the round, but one loose swing on the 14th changed the mood in a hurry. What had been a strong day suddenly became a story about temper as much as golf.

After a wayward tee shot on the par-3 14th, Thomas appeared upset and jabbed his club into the teeing area. Videos shared online also seemed to capture him cursing after the ball finished left near the grandstand. All this time, not once did he yell “fore” to warn the spectators of the oncoming golf ball. Another source also shared a video of Thomas screaming “F— you” into his mic after seeing where the ball landed.

The tied lead didn’t last long for Thomas. The miscued tee shot that landed in the rough near the grandstand was a challenging position to get out of. It took him 4 strokes to complete the hole, leading to a bogey. That pushed him out of the top position and to the T8 position.

With four more holes to play, Thomas will now be in a peculiar position. Will he give in to the frustration and lose momentum, or can he recover from the situation and climb back on the leaderboard? Aronimink had been testing players all day, and one bad swing could quickly ruin momentum. That does not excuse the reaction, but it explains why the hole turned from a golf problem into a discipline story.

The bigger question now is whether the officials review the moment at all. Until there is a formal update, it is safer to say Thomas could face scrutiny over his reaction rather than a fine. Meanwhile, the internet was left furious when the report about Thomas’ misconduct broke out.

Justin Thomas faces the heat of the netizens for making his first big mistake of the day

No one took Justin Thomas’ misconduct during the 2026 PGA Championship kindly. The crowd at the Aronimink Golf Club went crazy over his miss. But the internet was also not pleased by his actions.

One of the fans said, “Would you expect anything different from one of Eldrick best buddy and PGA darlings ?”

The idea of a Boys Club on the PGA Tour has been a long-standing criticism that the top players have faced over the years. They are a group of influential pros on the Tour who have formed a close friendship and protect each other. Moreover, Tiger Woods is also the chairman of the Future Competition Committee. The fan claims that Thomas can get away from making such mistakes because he’s a part of the club and also a close friend of Woods.

Pleading to the event officials, a comment read, “Give him the penalty.”

Such violent and destructive behavior is listed as unacceptable under the PGA of America’s ‘Player Code of Conduct’ document. If Thomas is not penalized for it, that means the “PGA darlings” comments will stand true.

Someone said, “The media 🤐🤐🤐🤐🤐🤐wonder why. They trashed Serg. But not R.”

Another user had the same views as they tweeted, “But if a LIV golfer does this….. look out.”

Sergio Garcia faced a lot of backlash from the Augusta National officials and the community for vandalizing the course during the final round. However, despite his similar actions, Thomas hasn’t received nearly enough negative responses to be considered a backlash. This may be a sign of bias in the sport.

Lastly, one of the fans said, “#PGAChamps Seen awful tee shots from Cam Smith and Justin Thomas at par 3s today. Didn’t hear either player or their group shout ‘fore’. Cam’s ball hit someone, and JT’s very nearly did.”

Apart from Thomas, Cameron Smith also miscued his drive on the par-3 17th. It went way right of the green and dropped just before the grandstand between a huge group of spectators. It would be surprising if the ball missed all of them and landed safely on the ground. But judging by their reaction, all of them seemed surprised to see the ball heading their way without any warning.