NASSAU, Bahamas — As a child, Justin Thomas grew up in awe of Tiger Woods.
As a fellow pro who won five times last year and is the reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year, he remains in awe of Woods.
And now, in his own words, uttered Tuesday, Thomas said, “I’m also looking forward to trying to kick his ass.’’
Thomas gets that chance Thursday when he’s paired with Woods — who’s seven months removed from a fourth back surgery and hasn’t competed since February — for the first time in a tournament for the opening round of this week’s Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club.
Thomas, who at 24 is 17 years Woods’ junior, is a poster child for the current generation of top golfers for whom Woods is somewhat of a myth because they never competed against him in his prime.
Much like Woods’ two children, Charlie and Sam, the likes of Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy, Daniel Berger and the rest of the younger generation know the finer details of Woods’ 14 major championships and 79 career victories through YouTube or late-night Golf Channel reruns.
When Thomas, who captured his first career major in August when he won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, was asked Tuesday if he ever watched Woods’ accomplishments on YouTube, he replied: “I still do.’’
Thomas, who grew up in Kentucky, recalled the first time he saw Woods play in person.
“The PGA at Valhalla in 2000 was the first real memory I have probably just because I was there and I remember just being in the clubhouse when he had that putt to get into a playoff with Bob May, just watching on TV,’’ Thomas said. “As soon as he hit it … you could just hear the crowd go nuts outside. As a 7-year-old it’s pretty cool to see that great of a show, the back nine that those two guys put on, and for Tiger to come back and get in that playoff and win was awesome.
“Like a lot of people or kids, whatever you want to call it, my age that play golf, we grew up in that era, so it’s pretty fun to watch.’’
Through recent Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams, for which Woods has served as an assistant captain, Thomas and Woods have become friends and have played a few times together in South Florida.
On Thursday, they will play for real, with scorecards in hand and world-ranking points up for grabs, which is a lot more important to Woods, whose ranking has plummeted to a shocking 1,199 from lack of play over the last few years, than it is for Thomas.
Woods is bullish on his new-found health since his April back surgery and has visions of finding his old form again.
“I never played against that person,’’ Thomas said. “All I know is in terms of watching him actually play golf is what I’ve seen. I mean, yeah, I’ve watched him on TV, but until you’re there and you stand and you watch the golf shots, you hear the sound it makes, you watch the putts, chips, then you really get an idea, but I guess we’ll just have to wait to see.’’
That’s exactly what makes this week so fascinating: It’s a chance to see how Woods, even in this early stage of his comeback, holds up against the new generation of great golfers — all of whom grew up wanting to be him. Eight of the top 10 players in the world rankings are playing this week, including Thomas (No. 3), so this could be a telling litmus test.
“Obviously there’s a lot of other [great] players, but there’s nobody that moves the needle like him, even now,’’ Thomas said. “And if he had 15 wins and two majors, then yeah, people wouldn’t care as much, but he has 79 wins and 14 majors. I mean, I’m probably just as excited to watch it as you are. I just get a front row seat to it on Thursday.’’