Justin Thomas has put himself right in the mix at PGA Championship. But not before a disagreement with a rules official…

If Justin Thomas is going win his third PGA Championship here at a surprisingly fiendish Aronimink, he’ll need to pass a fierce examination of his perseverance. Thomas has the chance to extend his love affair with this major after a second consecutive round of 69 in the Friday morning gusts left him primed for a weekend charge at a third Wanamaker Trophy.

But this has not been all been as plain sailing as Thomas’s resolute scoring has suggested.

On Thursday, the American hurled his club in anger on the par-3 14th before miraculously salvaging a bogey four. This place has a habit of making major champions lose control. On Friday, Thomas’s patience was tested once more, this time by a run-in with a rules official during his second nine.

The pace of play is causing real problems here, caused in a large part by logistics at the venue. The 1st and 10th holes share a tee box on this compact site and the lengthy par-3 eighth hole is incredibly close to the 9th. With the cross winds adding indecision into the mix, it is a perfect storm for five-and-a-half-hour rounds.

But Thomas and his former Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley were left surprised and feeling singled out after they were put on the clock due to their own group’s slow play. The duo were seen remonstrating with an official in a cart on the fairway about their warning for losing ground on the group in front.

“We just didn’t really agree with it,” Thomas told TG when asked about the incident.

“It’s hard because it’s the whole time par [length of time allocated on each hole] thing. What is time par? “How can time par on this course be the same when it’s blowing 25 and the pins are tough than if it’s not? And does time par change every day? There’s just so many factors that go into it.

“We were behind. That wasn’t our issue or being annoyed by it, it’s just the fact that we weren’t holding up the group behind us. They were about – it seemed like every time we were on the green, they were on the tee and so on and so forth.

“The hard part, to me, with the whole pace of play thing is that there’s so much that goes into golf, and there’s so much that goes into hole to hole in terms of, are you hitting it close, are you able to tap it in, or you have to mark it, stuff like that, are you holding the group up or are you not, to where it’s very hard to make that call. And we just didn’t agree with it, to be honest.”

“But we got taken off and a hole later we were caught up. So it goes to our point of why we didn’t think we should of [been on the clock], but it is what it is.

Thomas was not perturbed by the surprise warning as he played his last six-holes in two-under par.

“I backed off on my first shot being on the clock even,” he added. “It’s so hard out here and the last thing I’m going to do is make a mistake because I feel like I’m rushing.

“If we were for some reason to get in a position where we were getting bad times and we were continuing to be on [the clock], I would have had more discussions with the rules officials to kind of plead my case. But it’s hard enough. I’m not going to sit out there and take two minutes, like that’s disrespectful to the field and everybody.

“I’m not going to rush and hit a shot that isn’t right. So just kind of went about my business and just was ready to play when it was my turn like I feel like I do normally.”

So how does Thomas plan to keep a lid on things as he continues to be tested in these brutal conditions?

“It’s a lot easier to be patient when you’re under par and around the lead versus if you’re two or three over,” he smiled. “That’s when it’s really hard to be patient. That’s where I’m very proud of myself this morning, being two-over after three and not forcing it, not feeling like I had to birdie every hole to get it back.

“I’ve never seen a leaderboard like this in my life, so bunched. Just out of curiosity – I know there’s not a 10-shot rule here – but I was laughing last night looking at it. It would have been 148 people that wouldn’t have made the cut if there was a 10-shot rule! It’s crazy.”