With Super Bowl 57 on Sunday in nearby Glendale, Justin Thomas took a break from this week’s WM Phoenix Open to cross over to a potential side gig in media. Thomas visited Super Bowl media day and queried a variety of players about how they’re feeling ahead of the big game on Sunday.
Up first was Patrick Mahomes, whom Thomas asked about his ankle injury. However, J.T. was only curious if it was going to affect the number of strokes Mahomes asks for in the offseason; Mahomes is a good player with a single-digit handicap.
“I will not let the ankle injury negotiate my strokes, but I heard Aaron [Rodgers] let something negotiate his strokes out at Pebble Beach,” said Mahomes. “I just heard that second hand, that’s not what I’m saying. But he did get the win so I’ll give him that.”
Mahomes was, of course, referencing the fact that Rodgers won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last week with a handicap that may have been a tad suspect.
Thomas also asked Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts whether he was claiming Oklahoma or Alabama as his college. Thomas, a former Bama player, also bragged about the number of Tide players in the NFL.
Thomas, like everyone else in this week’s Phoenix Open field, hopes he won’t have the opportunity to head over to the Super Bowl on Sunday afternoon. That would mean he’s playing last in Round 4 and tending to his duties as the champion of the event this week. If Thomas and the Chiefs win, Thomas said he and Mahomes agreed to go to Las Vegas together.
Not that it really needed it, but the Phoenix Open has seemingly gotten a bump in popularity and viewership from the fact that the Super Bowl is being played nearby this week.
“I think this was a designated event before we ever knew what they were going to be,” said tournament favorite Jon Rahm. “No matter what the purse is, this tournament is going to be what it is. Very few sporting events in the world can comfortably happen in the same week as the Super Bowl and still have the impact that they have like this one.”
Let the party(ing) begin.