Justin Thomas will take part in a training program after he muttered a homophobic slur that cost him a major sponsorship.
Speaking Wednesday at the European Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, he declined to reveal details of the program.
“What I’m doing I’d like to keep internally and just go through the appropriate steps to get where I need to be and want to be, so people understand that’s not the person I am,” he told reporters.
His participation in the program comes after a microphone picked up his comment during the television broadcast of the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii on Jan. 9. He directed the slur toward himself after missing a short par putt on No. 4. He apologized after the round, vowing “to do better.”
Thomas said he understood the decision by Ralph Lauren to remove him as a brand ambassador.
“I spoke with them, along with all my sponsors, and although I apologized, just like it was then it’s an opportunity for me to grow and I felt like it was something we could have done together and gone through that process,” he said. “They just felt like they needed to move on so that’s exactly what I’m doing as well.”
Justin THomas
“I wasn’t disappointed,” Thomas, 27, continued, “because I put them in a terrible position. I was just more upset. I had a great relationship with a lot of people there and like I said we had the opportunity to do it all together.”
Thomas is ranked No. 3 in the world. He has 13 PGA Tour victories, including the 2017 PGA Championship.
–Field Level Media