GOSHEN, Ky. (WDRB) -- Looking out Tuesday at a place that feels like home, Justin Thomas seemed grateful.

Two months after winning his second major championship in historic fashion, he returned this week to where it all began, back in Goshen to host the Justin Thomas Junior Championship at Harmony Landing Country Club. Impressive swings dotted the driving range as boys and girls from around the world prepared for the premier junior event.

"It starts at a very young age now, and these kids are in the thick of it," Thomas said. "It's really cool to be here and watch it."

Thomas' father, Mike, travels with his son and works as his swing coach. But when he was a PGA teaching professional at Harmony Landing, the driving range where Thomas signed autographs and took pictures Tuesday is the same one where he spent thousands of hours building what became a world-class game.

"This place, it's why I am where I am," he said.

It's been an eventful summer for Thomas. A relatively benign 2022 — three top-five finishes and no wins through mid-May — turned quickly with his dramatic playoff win over Will Zalatoris at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thomas roared from seven shots back in the final round, something that hadn't been done in a major championship in more than 23 years.

He's the sixth player in the last 80 years to amass 15 PGA Tour wins and two major championships before the age of 30, joining Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Tom Watson and Johnny Miller.

On Tuesday, mid-sentence, Thomas looked down the hill at the short-game area at Harmony Landing, thinking about all the days he spent there, all the shots he hit there, harnessing the game he'd take around the world.

"I've just spent so many hours of my life at this place," he said. "It definitely has a special place in my heart and always will."

Outside influences have tried to muddy that romance in golf in 2022. The topic was somewhat taboo Tuesday at Harmony Landing, but the chaos surrounding a breakaway professional golf league has left a cloud over the PGA Tour all year. Rumored for years but always lacking substance, LIV Golf abruptly took off this spring, plucking pros from the tour, some prominent but many others past their prime looking for one last giant payday. The controversial league, run by former world No. 1 Greg Norman and 100% funded by the investment arm of the Saudi Arabian government, handed those pros 10- and even 11-figure contracts to simply join. The vast majority of the money comes not from playing well and winning events but from simply showing up.

For many of the pros who joined LIV Golf, the constant talking point has been a desire to "grow the game," a somewhat empty company line meant to imply they're bringing professional golf to a new audience, in a new format.

Thomas has joined Woods — one of his mentors and best friends — in repeatedly denying any involvement with LIV Golf. He deflected a question about it Tuesday, only briefly mentioning later that it was "irrelevant."

But on Monday, he posted on Twitter that this week's event in Goshen is an example of his "intentions of actually growing the game."

"If they want to ask questions, I want to help," Thomas said Tuesday of the junior golfers. "I want to see them succeed. I want to see them help grow the game of golf like I'm trying to now at my stage of my career."

In a little less than two years, Thomas will return to Louisville with a much different goal in mind. For the fourth time, Valhalla Golf Club will host the PGA Championship in May 2024. Thomas spoke Tuesday of his vivid memories of being on site to see Woods' dramatic win there in 2000 and the motivation it gave him at 7 years old.

While he was sure to say his focus that week will be solely on winning another major, he couldn't help but take a step back, reflecting on what the city of Louisville means to him.

"It's hard for me to put into words what it means to me," Thomas said. "When I come back here ... it might not seem like it means a lot to me, but it does a lot more than they know."

Thomas is one of the very best in the world at what he does. When he's back at Harmony Landing, he can still look out and see the years of work it took to build that dream. It's a place he's long since left but one he carries with him, too.

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