Justin Thomas on pros jumping to LIV Golf: ‘People are entitled to choose as they wish’

Justin Thomas, fresh off a win at the PGA Championship, reacted to some PGA Tour pros bolting for LIV Golf on Wednesday.

Dustin Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen were among those who rescinded their PGA Tour membership, with reports indicating Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed are right behind them. Thomas said it was a “bummer” those golfers left the Tour.

“I’ve thought a lot about it, and people are entitled to choose as they wish. I don’t dislike DJ now. I don’t think he’s a bad dude. I’m not going to treat him any differently. He’s entitled to choose as he wishes,” Thomas said, via Golf Channel.

“I think that the day and age that we live in now, it’s just so negative that you see it in everything. Sports, politics, whatever it is – if you disagree with someone, you just feel that you’re entitled to hate them and talk bad about them and just bash their decision when everybody’s entitled to their own opinion.

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“It doesn’t make him a bad person. Now, I’m disappointed, and I wish that he and others wouldn’t have done it, but that’s their decision. I’ve said it all along: Guys can do as they wish. If they want to go, they can go. If they want to stay, they can stay.”

Thomas, who is gearing up for the RBC Canadian Open this weekend before next week’s U.S. Open, said he still believed the PGA Tour is the “best place to play in the world.”

LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed rival league, will tee off Thursday at the Centurion Golf Club in London.