Justin Thomas has plans to go through an individual training program to “become a better person” after he was picked up uttering a homophobic slur under his breath when he missed a putt at a tournament in Hawaii earlier this month.
The No. 3-ranked American golfer described the moment as “humiliating and embarrassing and it’s not me.” Because of his actions, clothing brand Ralph Lauren ended its long-time sponsorship with Thomas following the incident.
“It’s not a word I use,” Thomas said Wednesday, “but for some reason it was in there and that’s what I’m trying to figure out — why it was in there.
“And like I said, it’s going to be part of this process and training program, whatever I need to do, not only to prove to myself but to prove to my sponsors and prove to the people who don’t know who I am that that is indeed not the person I am.”
Ralph Lauren said it was “disheartened” by his language and made its decision to end its association with the player because of the responsibility it has to its stakeholders.
Thomas said he was upset but respected Ralph Lauren’s decision.
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“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.
“I wasn’t disappointed,” Thomas added, “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.”
When asked about his training, Thomas said he would be keeping it “at a personal level.”
“Obviously people are going to be a part of that process,” he said. “But 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, the character I like to portray.”
