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NORTON — For Justin Thomas, winning the PGA Championship this August at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C., meant so much more than his first major title.

It was the championship of the PGA itself, and for the son and grandson of PGA professionals, it was like a celebration of family.

His father, the PGA pro at Harmony Landing CC in Goshen, Ky., was the first to embrace him. His mother, a frequent companion on Tour, was next. His grandfather Paul, a longtime pro in Zanesville, Ohio, was watching closely on TV. And there were more family and friends in the crowd.

“We had them all out on the green,’’ said Justin’s father, Mike Thomas. “By then, if you’re a winner, you can kind of get away with anything.’’

After the tournament, Thomas told Newsday, “You want to win any major. For me, the PGA definitely had a special place in my heart.’’

Now, with a fighting chance to carve out Player of the Year honors, Thomas comes to the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston in Norton in fast company. He has raced his way to four tournament victories this year, spiced by a 59 in his win at the Sony Open in January, and a record-tying 63 in the third round of the US Open at Erin Hills. He won back-to-back titles early in the season in Hawaii.

Still 24, he joins the swarm of young talent dominating the PGA Tour, a group that includes British Open champion Jordan Spieth and four-time winner Dustin Johnson (his playing partners in Friday’s opening round), as well as Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy, and Jason Day, among others.

Thomas’s faithful family has long believed he would be hoisting some of these heavy trophies. After all, his backyard was the driving range at his father’s club.

“I was playing a lot and he was riding around with me,’’ said Mike Thomas. “He wasn’t even 2 years old before he wanted to whack a ball. So we got him a little club, and every time we went out, he’d whack a couple.

“By the time he was 2½, he was hitting balls every single day. I never had to tell him to come out.’’

As a youngster, Thomas couldn’t get enough of golf. He made the cut at the PGA’s Wyndham Championship in 2009 at the age of 16, and he was the collegiate player of the year at Alabama in 2012, leading the Crimson Tide to the NCAA title as a sophomore. The next year, he turned pro.

He has been best buddies with three-time major winner Spieth since the two played at the Evian Junior Masters in France when they were 14 (Thomas) and 13 (Spieth). His other pals include the pack known as the Spring Break Boys (Thomas, Spieth, Fowler, Smylie Kaufman) whose viral video of their riotous vacation in the Bahamas bounded around the Internet last year, demonstrating vividly that the Tour’s twentysomething stars know more than how to play golf. They can have a good time, too.

When Spieth won the British Open this year, photos surfaced on social media of Spieth and Thomas drinking from the claret jug.

Things happen when this group assembles. The air crackles.

At the Masters par 3 tournament, while playing with Spieth and Fowler, Thomas had back-to-back holes-in-one.

Their camaraderie was evident when Thomas walked off the 18th tee at Quail Hollow, where he was congratulated by both Spieth and Fowler, who had stayed around to watch their buddy win his first major title.

Thomas at one point felt like he had some catching up to do. He was happy when his friend Spieth won the 2015 Masters and US Open as well as the FedEx Cup title, but he wanted to be doing the same thing himself. He later acknowledged he was a little jealous. He wanted to be that guy.

Now he is.

With four wins this season and six other top 10s, including last week at the Northern Trust Open, where he tied for sixth, Thomas is ranked sixth in the world. He’s third in the FedEx Cup standings.

He finally has some numbers to gawk at, and numbers that match up with his pack of friends. At 5 feet 10 inches and 145 pounds (yeah, that’s right), he knocks the stuffing out of the ball with every drive. He averages 309.1 yards, 11th on the Tour. Thomas was first in driving distance at Quail Hollow — 328 yards.

He’s getting more attention than he really wants, and he carefully parcels out his media time. Instead, he’s on the practice green, running through meticulous drills with his father/coach and his caddie, Jimmy Johnson.

“It’s been hectic,’’ Mike Thomas said. “The drills allow you to continue to do what you did. If you just come up here and loosely putt, you can get out of a routine. The demands can make you get out of your routine.’’

Thomas will have his mettle tested in the first two rounds of the Dell Technologies Championship when he is paired with Johnson, another four-time winner, and his pal Spieth, who has three victories. It could be tough jostling for a place in the spotlight, as each one of the three casts a long shadow.