Justin Thomas hoisted the heavy Wanamaker Trophy on Quail Hollow's 18th green having just earned his first major title – the US PGA Championship on Sunday.
American and world No. 14 Thomas carded a three-under 68 to break out of the pack and emerge triumphant by two strokes at eight under in Charlotte, North Carolina.
While his breakthrough win could be attributed to a number of good shots, Thomas cited his chip-in birdie on the par-three 13th as the most memorable.
"That chip-in on 13 was probably the most berserk I've ever gone on the golf course," Thomas said after his final round. "I'm kind of interested to see how I looked for that. Yeah, it was nice.
"It was a crazy day. Had to be an unbelievable watching today in terms of spectating and sitting at home watching on TV."
Even the most casual fans could notice the host of big-name golfers waiting to congratulate Thomas on the 18th green. Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth — two of Thomas' spring break buddies — were there to celebrate with their friend.
"It's awesome and I think they know I would do the same for them," Thomas said. "It's a cool little friendship we have.
"I just didn't believe Bud Cauley stayed around. He's one of my best friends. We live together in Florida. I was about ten minutes from going to tee off and he was walking off to go sign his scorecard. So he hung around for an entire 18 holes just to stick around, and not knowing what could happen."
Thomas thinks Cauley's act of loyalty reflects on the current state of the PGA Tour, and how its young stars truly care about one another.
"I think that kind of shows, you know, where the game is right now, where all of us are," Thomas said. "I mean, we obviously all want to win. We want to beat the other person. But if we can't win, we at least want to enjoy it with our friends. I think that we'll all be able to enjoy this together, and I know it's going to make them more hungry, just like it did me, for Jordan at the British."
With his first major championship win still sinking in, Thomas wanted to make sure everyone knows he will not rest on his laurels.
"Hopefully I'm going to win some more [majors], plenty more, a lot more, whatever," Thomas said. "I know you can't get to two unless you get one. So I'm excited to have this, and it's incredible. It was an awesome day. It was a great experience. It's huge for me. I mean, who knows what will happen. But it's just big for the year.
"You know, we're getting to the end of the year. We're getting to crunch time and the FedEx Cup and the Playoffs, and this puts me in a lot better position than I was before the week started. I'm just excited for that, I'd say more than anything."
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