After two excellent days, Justin Thomas was in contention for the title going into the weekend at TPC Sawgrass. However, he didn’t start the third round of the PLAYERS Championship 2026 as well as he had hoped he would. But he really lost control by the sixth hole when a wayward drive started a series of misfortunes.

As Golf Channel reported, “Drive into the penalty area leads to a triple bogey for Justin Thomas on 6.”

Thomas’ drive off the tee zone was way over 100 yards to the left of the fairway in the penalty area. That led to a penalty stroke and a dropped ball just 135 yards away from the hole. But it was still in the deep rough and made it quite difficult for Thomas to hit out of it. He still managed to clear 86 yards with his wedge.

Unfortunately, the ball still landed 85 feet away from the hole. By now, Thomas had already played the regulation four strokes expected to make par. He needed his wedge again to scoop out a 41-foot stroke onto the green.

Finally, on the short grass, Thomas was still 39 feet away from the cup. He tried to finish it within one putt, but rolled just about 4 feet away from it. Another putt later, and he had finally completed the par-4 sixth hole. And he needed seven strokes to finish it.

The horrid run on the sixth hole pushed Thomas way down the leaderboard. He went from T4 to T14 after completing 15 holes. If it wasn’t for a couple of birdies in the next few holes, then he would have been further down the leaderboard.

Either way, Thomas would still be happier with his performance at TPC Sawgrass this week. Especially after the nightmare he had at Bay Hill a few days ago.

Justin Thomas might be happy despite the poor show on Saturday

Neither Justin Thomas nor his fans expected him to score a triple bogey at the sixth hole on Saturday. But you never know when things can turn around on the golf course due to unexpected circumstances. But despite the horrid performance on the hole, Thomas would still be optimistic this week.

This time last week, he had already packed his bags and was heading home. That’s because he had a nightmare at Bay Hill that saw him exit the event early. Thomas had shot 7-over 79 in two consecutive rounds after returning from a six-month hiatus on the PGA Tour.

Upset with his performance, he told the reporters, “When you kind of post two pretty humiliating scores, it’s hard to give yourself too much grace.”

He didn’t give any excuses for his poor show. He just returned to action and responded to the criticism with improved performance. Compared to that, the setback on the sixth hole at TPC Sawgrass shouldn’t hurt him as much this weekend.