Tiger Woods shut Justin Thomas down before the Tour Championship in 2020 despite failing to qualify, as he FaceTimed the PGA Tour star while wearing his green jacket
Tiger Woods humbled Justin Thomas before the 2020 Tour Championship(Image: 2024 Getty Images)
Justin Thomas revealed that Tiger Woods brutally humbled him before the Tour Championship in 2020 — and he will never forget it.
Thomas will compete in the revamped Tour Championship on Aug. 21-24, as he attempts to win the competition for the second time. Woods has barely played this year after rupturing his left Achilles tendon in March, but is a two-time FedEx Cup champion.
In 2020, Woods failed to qualify for the Tour Championship, but Thomas called the PGA Tour legend during a practice round to show him how great the course was. Eager to shut down his close friend, Woods hung up and called him back while wearing one of his five green jackets.
Woods and Thomas share some similarities in their golfing resume. Both have been World No. 1, won the FedEx Cup and claimed the Ryder Cup for Team USA.
However, Thomas has never won the Masters, and his fourth-place finish in 2020 was his best effort. Woods shut him down when attempting to boast about competing in the Tour Championship that same year.
Ahead of the Tour Championship being held at East Lake Golf Course in Atlanta, Georgia, Thomas was asked for his most vivid memory at the competition. “That’s a good question,” he replied, before opening up about a core memory with Woods.
🚨📲⛳️ #WATCH — Justin Thomas tells a hilarious story about the time he FaceTimed Tiger Woods who hadn’t qualified for the 2020 Tour Championship only to be upstaged 😂
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) August 19, 2025
“Probably my best memory, and I couldn’t even tell you what year it was, it was probably — I guess it would have been 2020. I remember playing here, playing a practice round, and walking down 18 and FaceTiming Tiger.
“Because he wasn’t here and didn’t qualify, just showing him how the course was and how great it was, and then he acted like his phone cut out, and then he called me back two minutes later with a green jacket on. I remember that very, very, very vividly.
“Just a typical conversation of thinking I am having some kind of upper edge, and I get shut down and put in my place pretty quickly. There’s a lot of golf things here and there that have obviously happened, but that’s the first thing that came to mind when you said that.”
Thomas and Woods share a close friendship(Image: 2024 Getty Images)
While the competitive rivalry in golf remains, Woods and Thomas live close to each other in Florida and have become close friends over the years. After Thomas and his wife, Jillian Wisniewski, welcomed their first daughter in 2024, he saw a different side to Woods.
At the end of last year, Thomas revealed how supportive Woods had been after his significant life change. “He’s been unbelievable. I’ve seen a new side of him. I mean, it’s just been really cool,” Thomas said.
“He’s always checking in, wanting to see how I’m doing, how Jill’s doing, how Molly’s doing. He knew when Jill’s surgery was and he called the night before asking how everybody’s doing.
“I hung up, and I just looked at Jill, and she said, ‘I bet you didn’t think that was going to happen when you were growing up.’ I’m like, ‘No, I didn’t.'”