Justin Thomas said he put his sponsors “in a terrible position” by making a homophobic outburst in Hawai’i after one made the decision to cut ties with the former PGA champion.
Clothing sponsor Ralph Lauren walked away from their long-time support of Thomas in the aftermath of his making the derogatory comment – picked up by a TV microphone – in frustration at a missed shot at the Tournament of Champions two weeks ago.
Thomas made an immediate apology and got the support of his friend Rory McIlroy as he returned to action at the Abu Dhabi Championship. But the American admitted to being “upset” at the clothing company’s decision.
“I spoke with them along with all my sponsors,” he said. “It’s like I said then: I feel it’s an opportunity for me to grow and I felt like it was something we could have done together.
“But they just felt like they needed to move on. At the end of the day, they have that right.
“They are a huge, huge global brand, and I have to respect their decision. I put them in a terrible position. I had a great relationship with a lot of people there, and like I said, we would have had the opportunity to do this together.
“I totally respect their decision and I’ve moved on from it.”
`Humiliating and embarrassing’
Thomas said the whole matter was “humiliating” and “embarrassing”.
“It’s the consequences of what I said,” he said. “It’s not me. It’s not a word that I use, but for some reason, it was in there.
“And that’s what I’m trying to figure out as to why it was. It’s going to be a part of this process and training program or whatever I need to do, not only to prove to myself but prove to sponsors and those people that don’t know who I am.”
‘He’s going to try to be better’
McIlroy, also starting his season at Abu Dhabi, didn’t condone what Thomas said but spoke warmly of him.
“I think he’s already responded really, really well,” said Rory. “He realised he made a big mistake as soon as (happened), and he completely owned up to it.
“He’s going to try to be better. And you know, Justin is true to his word. He will be.”
McIlroy said Thomas has “a lot of integrity and character”.
“(Justin) is as good a guy as they come,” he continued. “He made a mistake, owned up to it, and he’ll be better because of it. He’ll maybe not be as maybe ignorant to things that offend people, I guess.
“Now he’ll learn and he’ll move on, he’ll be just as good a golfer as he’s always been, and if anything, it will probably just make him a better person than he already is.”
