Justin Thomas Says Quail Hollow: 'Doesn't Necessarily Require a Lot of Thought or Strategy Off the Tee'

Quail Hollow is fine! I’m not sure I would go any further than that.

It’s a course worthy of hosting a PGA TOUR event, but is it special enough to stage a major championship? I personally don’t think so.

It’s a big ballpark. Long drivers usually do well around here. Just look at Rory McIlroy’s history at this place: Four wins, nine top-10 finishes in 12 starts. But there isn’t much about Quail that stands out. The holes start to run together a bit, and it lacks any sort of defining quality.

On Tuesday, Justin Thomas, winner of the 2017 PGA played at Quail Hollow, gave a quick but damning assessment of the track during his pre-tournament press conference.

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“I think this golf course fits a high draw really, really well," he said. "There's a lot of tee shots, whether it's holding fairways or fitting doglegs, taking bunkers out of play, whatever it is. (Rory) just has—when he's on, he has such control of that driver, it seems like he can hit it in a window and an area that some guys are trying to hit short irons.

“That's a tremendous advantage or threat at any golf course, but I feel like a place like this, where it doesn't necessarily require a lot of thought or strategy off the tee, it's generally pulling out driver and just I need to hit this as far and straight as possible.”

Yikes.

“Where it doesn't necessarily require a lot of thought or strategy off the tee.”

I don’t know about you, but I really hate to hear that about a place that’s about to host one of the year’s four major championships. This isn’t something I was unaware of, but to hear one of the best players in the world and the last PGA champ at Quail Hollow say it was jarring.

It feels even worse coming off Valhalla last year. I still can’t believe they host tournaments there. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The PGA heads to the Donald Ross-designed Aronimink in Pennslyvania next year, truly one of the best tracks in the country.

But in a year that features Augusta National, Oakmont, and Royal Portrush, Quail Hollow sticks out like a sore thumb.