Justin Thomas on the Wyndham Championship.
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Justin Thomas is aware of it’s crunch time.
That’s it. That’s mainly the entire concept right here. Justin Thomas is aware of it’s crunch time. We know he is aware of that. And he is aware of that we all know that he is aware of. Knowing all of that, how will he carry out right here, in crunch time?
We don’t know.
What makes knowledgeable golfer’s efficiency fascinating to watch? It varies week to week, in fact, however you want a number of components. There’s the setting: What’s the importance of this event? There are the stakes: What does the golfer have on the road? There’s the strain: What occurs if the golfer comes up quick? There’s the familiarity: How a lot do we all know the participant’s story? And then there’s the private factor: How a lot does it imply to the participant?
Jot down the solutions to these questions, tally ’em up and also you’ll discover you’re left with Thomas, this week, because the most fascinating man within the subject. The most fascinating golfer in skilled golf.
Let’s begin with the setting. The Wyndham Championship is hardly the fifth main however, because the PGA Tour’s season finale, it’s turn into an more and more intriguing occasion. It’s been the location of execs miraculously qualifying (assume Jim Herman profitable in 2020, leaping from No. 192 within the playoff race to No. 54) and memorably arising quick (assume Tiger Woods exhibiting up in 2015, chasing a win and a playoff berth, solely to be undone by a triple bogey on Sunday). The Wyndham’s significance has solely elevated this yr because the variety of playoff spots has shrunk from 125 to 70, leaving extra marquee names than normal on the skin wanting in. That contains Thomas.
He additionally has been singing the praises of Sedgefield as a event venue. He known as it a “great golf course” and added that he doesn’t similar to it, he loves it. I’ll allow you to resolve if he’s simply utilizing a web page from Phil Mickelson’s playbook and attempting to talk that positivity into existence, nevertheless it’s clear Thomas (in contrast to, say, Matt Wallace) is seeking to discover some concord with this Donald Ross design.
To the stakes, then: Thomas is enjoying for a lot. He enters the week at No. 79 within the FedEx Cup. He must earn someplace within the vary of 75 factors this week to have a shot at cracking the highest 70. That means he wants to complete inside the highest 10 to have an excellent likelihood. And he is aware of he wants to complete inside the highest 10 to have an opportunity.
But it’s not simply the FedEx Cup. It’s the Ryder Cup, too. Play nicely this week? Thomas out of the blue has a stronger case to be on Team USA as they trek to Rome subsequent month, searching a street victory over the European facet. Thomas is terrific in crew occasions. All logic would dictate he’d be a core piece of this U.S. crew. But he’s in arguably the worst rut of his PGA Tour profession. He’s missed 5 of his final seven cuts. He’s misplaced strokes on method in 4 consecutive tournaments, unthinkable for an iron participant of his caliber. If he may play nicely sufficient to make it to the playoffs, he would have an excellent efficiency underneath his belt and he’d even have at the very least yet another likelihood to show himself in Memphis subsequent week.
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As a end result Thomas faces a selected form of strain to which he’s most likely unaccustomed. For the final half-decade his recreation has spoken for itself. His performances have taken care of all the things. Now, he’s enjoying tournaments he normally doesn’t (like final week’s 3M Open and this week’s Wyndham) with a selected objective in thoughts: safe sufficient FedEx Cup factors to make it by means of. Thus far Thomas hasn’t risen to the event; it was stunning to see him miss the reduce on the Rocket Mortgage, it was surprising to see him shoot 83 on the Open Championship and it was disappointing to see him on the improper facet of one other reduce line on the 3M. But now he has yet another likelihood.
“I know I’m really, really close to playing some really, really good golf,” he stated forward of the occasion. “The reality is, you know, I need to play well this week to give that an opportunity to come out. That’s the unfortunate but also realistic part of where I’m at right now.”
If Thomas doesn’t make it, he’s far much less prone to make the journey to Rome. He’s additionally now not certified for subsequent yr’s signature occasions on Tour, the limited-field big-money occasions that can take the highest 50 from this yr’s FedEx Cup. Will Thomas be in these occasions anyway? Yeah, most likely. He’d produce other methods to play his means in or, at worst, he’d be a shoo-in sponsor’s exemption. But that’s not the identical factor as qualifying.
Thomas’ standing is fascinating as a result of he’s acquainted. Golf followers know him. They knew him from spring break in 2017 and so they’ve recognized him ever since as a result of he’s been a top-10 golfer on this planet your complete time. Until now, in fact. Thomas fell out of the highest 10 this spring; he’s all the way down to No. 26. Whether you’re a career-long fan or simply picked him up from the Netflix present final season, you doubtless have some televisional relationship with Thomas. That’s what makes his quest for the playoffs only a contact extra gripping than, say, Kevin Streelman, who is truly chasing his Sixteenth-consecutive postseason. That’s additionally very cool, for the report. I’m wanting to see how he fares. But Streelman isn’t underneath the microscope and is aware of he’s not, whereas Thomas is underneath the microscope and is aware of he is. Same event. Same course. Slightly completely different circumstances.
As for Thomas’ private x-factor? That’s what elevates this complete factor. Thomas desires it dangerous. He desires the FedEx Cup. He actually desires the Ryder Cup. He desires to proceed elevating his place within the golf world. I hold considering again to what he instructed our Sean Zak about how he sees his profession at age 30.
“Having two majors is great, but I want five,” he stated. “Fifteen [career] wins is great, but I want 30. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing, but that’s the reality.”
In that very same interview, Thomas harassed how he has little interest in being “out here trying to grind out a tie for ninth or 13th.” He desires seasons the place he wins 5 instances or extra. That makes it much more fascinating to see him right here, close to the conclusion of a zero-win season, very a lot grinding for a ninth-place end.
Thomas’ opening-round even-par 71 at Sedgefield served as the proper Rorschach Test for his current play. It wasn’t a fantastic spherical; Thomas slogged by means of a wet morning to complete in the course of the pack. But it wasn’t a horrible spherical, both. One low one will put him again in rivalry.
“I played fine,” he stated afterward. “I didn’t really do anything well, I didn’t do anything terribly.”
That introduces one additional little bit of context that bears mentioning. While it’s been a tough stretch by Thomas’ requirements, it’s solely gotten this bleak very lately. His 2023 started with 5 top-25 finishes in a row. He’s logged three top-10s, together with a T9 on the Travelers in June. He made 10 of his first 11 cuts earlier than the MCs began piling up these final two months. Asked on the Open about Thomas’ struggles, Rory McIlroy may solely chuckle.
“JT will be just okay,” he stated, dismissing any alternate chance.
But now Thomas has simply three days left to search out “okay.” If he doesn’t, he’ll doubtless discover it subsequent yr. But subsequent yr is months away, and who’s to say if it’ll be simpler then than it is this week? Thomas feels the urgency of the now. Time to see what that urgency will get him.
