Justin Thomas recalls ‘insane’ moment George W. Bush told Walker Cup team about his 9/11 experience

Justin Thomas has shared a remarkable story about meeting former United States President George W. Bush.

The moment came when Thomas was part of the United States Walker Cup team in 2013.

Bush spent time with the players during practice rounds at the National Golf Links of America.

During lunch with the team, the conversation turned to the September 11 terrorist attacks, one of the most significant events in modern US history.

Justin Thomas recalls George W. Bush describing his experience on 9/11

Thomas explained that Bush joined the team for lunch before playing a couple of holes with the players.

“Oh, for sure. We had a great, great lunch with him at one of the practice rounds, and then I think it’s 10 guys on the team, so we would have lunch, and then he’d play two holes with five of the guys, and then two more holes with the other five.

Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images

“The lunch was so great, and it was all assigned seating and happened to be right across from W, and [Patrick Rodgers] was also sitting right next to him, and it was kind of a free-for-all. It probably felt like a Q&A for him.

“It probably wasn’t as fun for him as it was for us, but P-Rod asked him about his day on 9/11, and all of us were kind of like, ‘I can’t believe you just asked that.’ And he went through his day from when he woke up in the morning to when he went to bed at night.”

Thomas said Bush described the moment he was informed of the attacks while visiting a school, a scene that became one of the most widely shared images from that day.

“It was insane. It was like 30 minutes from when he was told in the school, the picture that everybody’s seen when he’s sitting there and he’s got the Secret Service in his ear, and I remember him saying the number one thing you can’t do in that situation is panic because then the people around you are going to get worked up, and they are going to panic. Staying calm and coming up with a plan is the first thing you have to do.”

Thomas added that Bush continued the story late into his evening in an underground bunker.

“But then, I think he’s told this story a million times, too, but to the end of the night when he’s in some bunker bedroom, probably in God knows where, that they thought that there was a, a plane that was flying to where they were, only to find out that it was their own plane that was security and watching.

“He was just so exhausted, he essentially was like, ‘I don’t care; I just wanna go to sleep.’ And then they were like, ‘Never mind, Mr. President. It’s just our plane.’ So that was wild.”

Justin Thomas shares memorable George W. Bush moment

Thomas also recalled a personal moment with Bush while playing a hole during the practice rounds.

“But, selfishly for me, the coolest story was that I was in the first group that played with him, and on the first hole, we got a bazillion people on the green, around the green.

“And he hits his putt and just happens to be wherever I am, and he’s walking around me to go up to his ball to get to the hole. And as he’s walking around, he just kind of casually says, ‘You wanna be on the front page tomorrow?’ And I was like, ‘What?’

“’You guys are gonna be on the front page tomorrow.’ ‘Sure?’ He’s like, ‘Come on. Act like we’re reading this putt.’ And he just puts his arm around me and looks at it, and I’m playing the part, and look at it, too, and then we’re just laughing, and he keeps going.

“Sure enough, the next day, there’s that picture on the front page of the paper. And I was like, ‘This guy knows. It’s not the first time he’s done that.”

Bush later returned during the closing ceremony, creating another memorable moment for Thomas.

“And then, coincidentally, however many days later, he comes back for the closing [ceremony], which none of us knew. We’re all in line in our button-downs, ties, and I get this tap on the shoulder as he’s walking by and just goes, ‘Told you.’ And it was W.

“It was cool. He’s the best, and he didn’t need to do that. I was just very lucky that I happened to be the one who was standing there, but it was obviously a moment I didn’t forget.”

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