Justin

Thomas

These picks are not too surprising for anyone following the story over recent weeks. While not surprising, there is still certainly plenty of debate regarding a few of these selections. First, is Justin Thomas who struggled in 2023 but Johnson cited his Cup history and passion when making the decision, “He leads by example. His passion for the Ryder Cup is very evident. In my mind, he was born for this, and you just don’t leave JT at home.” The other pick that was up for debate ending up going to Sam Burns. He had a boom-or-bust season but still managed to finish 9th in the FedExCup and also bagged a notable win at the WGC-Match Play back in March. These picks will join the six auto qualifiers (Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Max Homa, Xander Schauffele, and Patrick Cantlay) with the event set to take place in Rome one month from now.

Thomas enters the week with finishes of T-60 or worse in six of his last seven starts. It’s a rare slump for the usually-consistent winner. “I know I’m really, really close to playing some really, really good golf. 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.” Thomas will be making his fourth appearance at the Wyndham but just his first return visit since a missed cut at the 2016 edition. JT is sitting between +3000 and +4000 in the outright markets to start the week.

JT arrives at just 71st in the FedExCup race. He’s racked up seven top 25s but just hasn’t found that top gear that is normally in his arsenal. “I just feel like for the majority of the months this year I just, seems like basically every round I’m playing I shoot the highest score that I possibly can. It’s just, I mean, you just go on those sprees sometimes in golf. Over a long career you’re going to have, if you want to call them slumps, if you want to call them cold streaks or whatever, and you’re also going to have your hot streaks.” Thomas went on to talk about a diet that he’s been on, going gluten-free for the past year and dairy-free in the last six months. It would probably be silly to think his current slump is related to the diet but if he continues to fail to find the desired results then maybe he’ll experiment with adding dairy back into his life. Thomas is a past champ at this week’s course, winning the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club. His best finish at a Wells Fargo hosted at Quail is a T7 (2015).

Thomas lost nearly five strokes putting at THE PLAYERS and that club stayed cold at the Valspar. He gained 7.2 strokes tee-to-green but ranked 50th in putting (-0.6 strokes gained putting). He started the week just 66th in the early FedExCup race but is set to jump to 60th with this finish. He’s elected to skip next week’s WGC-Match Play so we’ll see him next at the Masters unless he opts for one last tune-up at the Valero Texas Open in two weeks.

The USGA and R&A introduced a proposal on the rollback of the golf ball at the highest level. Thomas responded, “You’re trying to create a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist. To me, it’s so bad for the game of golf, I mean, some of the great things to me is the fact that you can play the exact same golf ball that I play. I mean, that’s cool.” Whether he hit the mark with his rant or not is besides the point, but we can file him under golfers that are not looking forward to the rollback scenario. As for the state of his game ahead of the Valspar, “I feel really close and I feel really far at times. So it’s kind of bizarre.” Thomas has top 25s in five of six starts this year but just one of those doubled as a top 15. He twirled a T3 at this event last year.

Thomas led the field in tee-to-green play on Sunday and converted that strong striking into seven birdies, erasing a single blemish. Six of his birdies were converted from inside of eight feet today with the longest coming from just 12 feet. JT now has seven top 20s in nine tries at TPC Scottsdale and he’ll look to keep the momentum rolling next week at Riv where he’s landed top 10s in three of his last five appearances.

Thomas arrives as a two-time winner at Kapalua with three other top 5s also on his resume, in seven total appearances. It’s safe to say he likes the layout. “I love this place. It’s always a goal of mine every year to want to start the year in Kapalua. I think it’s a fun, it’s a relaxing, laid back week. The course is very receiving. It’s got big fairway, some big greens. It’s not like you’re coming here and grinding out a couple 73s or 74s.” His past results at the course will certainly make him a popular play in weekly fantasy formats. Switching up his routine from year’s past, he will not be playing next week’s Sony Open due to scheduling, “It’s just scheduling, and I feel like, once Torrey starts, it’s pretty crazy through THE PLAYERS, potentially Tampa.”

While some in the field have stayed active with up to six starts in the fall, Thomas has played just one event this season, a T40 at the CJ CUP. A big reason for that was likely wedding planning as he said his vows earlier this month at a phone-free wedding in Tennessee. Thomas also launched a line of sunscreen and signed on for the TGL Monday-night golf league. He’s been active off the course but he’s a wildcard this week in terms of the state of his game. He’s sitting at fifth on the odds board (13/1) to start the week.

Thomas piled up a win and nine other top 10s last season. For most that would be a career year, but Thomas is craving more wins. “I’m very hungry to start winning more golf tournaments. I felt for the majority of the year last year I played some really solid consistent golf, but I just didn’t win enough. You have to win more to be at the top of the rankings and I just didn’t do that. Just need to practice more and keep hammering it, and I think that’s something to try to get off to a good start for the season this week.” JT has now racked up at least one win in seven straight seasons including three years where he won three or more events. He will continue to be a top-tier target for DFS gamers any time he tees it up.

Thomas and Jordan Spieth have been untouchable all week, going 4-0 in team competition including a pair of match wins Saturday that ended on the 15th green. Back on the course where he won the 2017 PGA Championship, Thomas has added to his Quail Hollow highlight reel while joining Tiger Woods/Steve Stricker (2009) and Louis Oosthuizen/Branden Grace (2015) in going undefeated through all four team sessions. Now he’ll turn his attention to Si Woo Kim in the lead-off match of Sunday’s singles play, looking to provide a spark to an American squad that will start the day with an 11-7 lead after the Internationals took three of four points from the final session Saturday afternoon.