Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas reach same Rory McIlroy stance before Truist Champs

Justin Thomas has joined in applauding 's victory, confessing it "motivated" him to claim his own win at the recent RBC Heritage. The Northern Irishman last month sealed his first Augusta National title, ending an 11-year major drought and etching his name in the annals of history as the sixth player to achieve a career Grand Slam.

After teaming up with Shane Lowry and not managing to retain their crown at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where they finished 12th, McIlroy is now gearing up for his first individual tournament since the Masters. He got underway in the Truist Championship, the sixth of eight signature events on the PGA Tour, on Thursday at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. World No. 5 Thomas will be among the elite competitors, although Scheffler won't be taking part. However, both have celebrated PGA Tour victories following McIlroy's momentous win.

Fresh off his own success, Thomas talked about the influence of McIlroy's performance at the pre-tournament press conference. And he acknowledged how competing against top players like Scheffler and McIlroy drives him towards greater achievements in golf.

"I appreciate that, to be mentioned in the same sentence and same area, if you will, as Rory and Scottie," he told reporters. "Obviously I think a lot of myself and my game and my accomplishments and know that I've done that.

"But like pretty much all of us, we all downplay everything of what we've done and what we probably feel of ourselves. Rory winning the Grand Slam was huge. It was inspiring to me. Obviously it's not like I didn't realise I wanted to win a Grand Slam before that, but just that it's even more motivating.

"It's such a funky game in the sense of anybody can win any week, but to have your top guys or guys that are maybe a little bit more of the needle, if you will, playing well on some of the biggest stages like Rory and Scottie did, I would assume that it is helpful."

In calling for enhanced competition at the top level, Thomas stressed: "I think that, if everybody keeps playing well and keeps putting themselves in position, that's the opportunity for names and faces to kind of grow to where we can just hopefully have more battles like we all have."

Those thoughts aligned with those . The Texan had secured his first title of the season just last week, recording an impressive wire-to-wire win by eight strokes at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

The world No. 1 matched a PGA Tour record with an aggregate score of 253, emphatically cementing his position at the summit of the rankings. McIlroy recently revealed how he was inspired to raise his game after Scheffler won eight titles in 2024.

And the Texan responded by saying he was "fired up" by McIlroy's performance at the Masters, where he handed his rival a long-awaited Green Jacket. He said: "I think any time somebody has beaten any of us out here, I think we're all, you could say inspired, but I think we're all fired up to come out here and compete.

"I think that's what's great about our game. Week in and week out, we get to come out here and compete. This week I was the best player. I have the week off, and we'll see the week after who is the best player at the PGA.

"Rory has been playing some tremendous golf this year. The career Grand Slam was really special to watch. I was glad to be able to be there for it. I think any time you're getting beat, you're always fired up just a little bit extra to go out and practice."

Not one to downplay his own game, the American is confident his game is "trending in a good direction" ahead of what he hopes is a strong rest of the season. The upcoming PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in North Carolina will see each of the stars return to action for the year's second major tournament.