Justin Thomas: Rory McIlroy says that American is a & # 039; lesson learned will have & # 039; after homophobic stain

Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas have become friends and rivals over the years

Rory McIlroy believes Justin Thomas will not be "so ignorant his "" in the future after the American stained a homophobic slur during a game in Hawaii

Thomas apologized for using a derogatory word against himself that was shown on TV picked up at the Tournament of Champions in January.

The world's number three has been dropped by one of his main sponsors.

McIlroy says that Thomas "learned his lesson" and adds "he responded well, he made a big mistake and owned it."

Thomas will play with McIlroy and Lee Westwood from England in the first two rounds of the A bu this week's Dhabi HSBC Championship event – the first European Tour event of 2021.

"He said he messed up; he's going to try to get better. And you know, Justin is true to his word. He will be, "added McIlroy from Northern Ireland, who is on the European Tour for the first time in 14 months.

" I got to know Justin very well and that's him also. as good as they come. He has a lot of integrity, a lot of character.

"Obviously it doesn't make what he said any better, but in this day and age it's hard because it seems like you can't make mistakes anymore. Get jumped wrong."

Speaking publicly for the first time since his sponsorship with Ralph Lauren was announced on Friday, Thomas admitted that he was "upset" by the decision. "They have that right," he said.

"They had to make the decision they had to make. I spoke to them along with all my sponsors.

]

" I have my apologized. It's an opportunity for me to grow and I felt like it was something we could have done together and went through that process.

"They just felt they had to move on. That's exactly what I do."

Thomas reinforced his remorse over the incident that occurred after missing a par putt on the fourth hole of his third round in Hawaii.

"It's demeaning. It's embarrassing. It's not me. It's not a word I use, but for some reason it was there," he said.

]

"I'm trying to figure out why it was in there, and like I said, it will be part of this process and training program or whatever I have to do.

"Not just to prove myself, but also to prove my sponsors and to prove to those people who don't know who I am, that indeed is not the person I am."

McIlroy, meanwhile, admitted that his impatience grew as he searched for a first victory since his victory in Shanghai in November 2019.

" China in November 2019 really feels like a long time ago, "said the 31-year-old number six in the world.

" I didn't really play that great when I came back from lockdown, but then felt like I started playing a lot r as the season came to an end.

"I'm trying not to be impatient. I'm trying to be as patient as possible, but what I'm saying is that the last victory at this point does feel like a long time ago."