If you blinked, you might have missed Justin Thomas' reign atop golf's world ranking.
The PGA champion took the top spot in May. It's gone, with Dustin Johnson's win at Memphis last weekend catapulting him to No. 1.
Of course, a win at Shinnecock Hills in the U.S. Open this week would push Thomas back to the top.
"It didn't affect me, or it wasn't that hard on me because I couldn't do anything about it," Thomas said. "I wasn't playing. I played one tournament and had a good tournament, finished eighth. And D.J. won, so it's not like he didn't play well and didn't earn it or anything. He won a golf tournament and a great tournament. So there's nothing I can be upset about for that."
Thomas could even laugh a bit about the ranking.
"I saw something that was just hysterical on social media," he explained, "how a lot of the times, you know, when teams or players or whatever it is go on long runs, like the last time this happened. I mean, a little biased but often a scenario is last time Tennessee beat Alabama in football, you know, like iPhones weren't alive yet and stuff like that."
So what was Thomas' "last time" moment?
"I saw something so funny yesterday," he said. "It was like the last time that I wasn't ranked No. 1 in the world, and it was like [Alex] Ovechkin didn't have a Stanley Cup and Rickie [Fowler] wasn't engaged. That was it. I thought it was pretty funny, whoever came up with that."
Learning from Brady
Rickie Fowler couldn't have found a better athlete than Tom Brady to play a round of golf with two days before the U.S. Open.
After all, Brady owns five Super Bowl rings and three NFL MVP awards. Who better to have around as Fowler seeks his first major championship?
Fowler, Brady, Phil Mickelson and a few others played a round at nearby Friar's Head on Tuesday. Fowler learned something about the quarterback: He can putt.
"If I can take that into this week, that's one that can help me," Fowler said.
Let's make a deal
Young professional athletes have been known to make lavish purchases.
In an article from The Players' Tribune, Emmitt Smith told the story of how he once spent $100,000 on a car as a 20-year-old. The ex-Cowboys running back recalls being insulted by a sales rep.
"I wanted to treat myself to a convertible Mercedes Benz, the SL," Smith said. "It was burgundy. Funny story, though. Before I actually bought the car, the car dealers treated me like I couldn't afford the car. I walked onto the lot and I was looking at brand-new cars and the sales guy took one look at me -- a young African-American guy -- and he walked me to the used car section. He said, 'Uh, let's try to get you into something that you can afford.'
"He didn't have a clue that I was on the Cowboys. So I looked at what he wanted me to look at, and then I said, 'No, I'll go with the SL. But I'm not gonna buy it from you.' And I went to another dealer and got it there."
Sports on 06/14/2018