Justin Thomas to undergo training programme after homophobic slur

The world’s number three golfer Justin Thomas is to go through a training programme after using a homophobic slur at a golf tournament in Hawaii.

Thomas did not offer any details of the training programme, saying he wanted to keep it personal.

“Obviously people are going to be a part of that process,” Thomas said.

“But what I’m doing I’d like to keep internally and just go through the appropriate steps to get where I need to be and want to be, so people understand that’s not the person I am, the character I like to portray.”

Thomas muttered the homophobic slur f*****t under his breath, which was picked up by television microphones, after missing a short putt during the third round of the tournament at Kapalua.

He apologised after the round, and then again after the final round, saying that he “clearly screwed up” and made a “terrible, terrible judgment call.”

A few days later, American fashion company Ralph Lauren announced that it was ending its relationship with Thomas, saying his language was “inconsistent with our values.”

“They had to do what they had to do,” Thomas told reporters at the European Tour’s Abu Dhabi Championship.

“They are a huge global brand, and I have to respect their decision. I wasn’t disappointed, because I put them in a terrible position. I just was more upset. I had a great relationship with a lot of people there, and like I said, we would have had the opportunity to do it together. I totally respect their decision and move on from it.”

Thomas said he’s been in contact with his other sponsors (Titleist, FootJoy and Citi bank are among those listed on his website) and that “they understand this is an opportunity for me to educate myself, grow, become a better person, and just like they hope, I know that I’ll become a better man and a better person because of it, and they are going to kind of help me along that process.”

“I’m clearly not proud of what I said. It’s humiliating. It’s embarrassing. It’s not me. It’s not a word that I use, but for some reason, it was in there,” Thomas said.

“And that’s what I’m trying to figure out, as to why it was in there. It’s going to be a part of this process and training programme or whatever I need to do, not only to prove to myself but prove to my sponsors and prove to these people that don’t know who I am that is indeed not the person I am.”