Why Justin Thomas finishing seventh on the Ryder Cup points list was the worst outcome for Keegan Bradley

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Justin Thomas will be on Keegan Bradley’s US Ryder Cup team who are set to face Europe at Bethpage Black later this month.

Thomas actually began the 2025 PGA Tour season in fine style, with four top-10s in his first eight events of the season, including two second-place finishes.

By the time April came around, and the 32-year-old won his 16th PGA Tour event at the RBC Heritage, it seemed like qualification for the Ryder Cup was an absolute certainty.

However, fast forward five months, and with only one top-5 finish to his name since his win at Hilton Head as well as two missed cuts in the majors, he had slipped outside of the automatic qualifying places for Bethpage Black.

Thomas has been driving the ball poorly ahead of the Ryder Cup and ranked well down in 81st position in strokes gained off the tee on the PGA Tour in 2025.

Bradley will surely be really concerned about the two-time major champion’s current form.

Thomas has been helping Ryder Cup captain Bradley behind the scenes, often texting him to offer his services in any way shape or form.

However, he can offer all the help he wants ahead of the Ryder Cup, but it will mean nothing if he does not produce the goods on the course later this month.

Justin Thomas made things awkward for Keegan Bradley ahead of the Ryder Cup

Bradley had some incredibly difficult decisions to make when it came down to naming his six captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup, none more so than determining whether he himself should participate as a player at Bethpage.

And things were made all the more tricky for him by Thomas and his extended poor run of form.

The 2025 RBC Heritage champion actually gave Bradley a huge dilemma by finishing in seventh spot in the US Ryder Cup points list.

The 39-year-old from Vermont simply couldn’t not pick the 32-year-old for his team, but things would have been so different had he finished outside the top 10.

Leaving Thomas off the US side would then have been a totally justifiable decision from Bradley because let’s face it, his golf game is a really poor fit for Bethpage Black, and his form has been underwhelming to say the least for five months now.

Perhaps Bradley would then have either picked himself or Maverick McNealy, and the harsh truth of the matter is that the US team would undoubtedly have been stronger with either of those two players replacing Thomas in the lineup.

Thomas finishing in seventh in the standings was neither here nor there. He didn’t qualify automatically to take the pressure off the shoulders of Ryder Cup captain Bradley, but he didn’t finish far enough down the points list in order for 39-year-old to justifiably leave him off the team either.

Captain Keegan was left in a really awkward spot as a result, and it’s more than fair to argue that Thomas finishing seventh on the points list was the worst possible outcome for the United States ahead of the Ryder Cup.

Things aren’t looking good for the man from Louisville, Kentucky, right now. He just about made the cut at the Procore Championship before a round of 72 on day three and a really poor 75 during the final round left him outside of the top-60.

Justin Thomas’ awful driving and poor form could be costly for the US Ryder Cup team

As touched on previously, Thomas’ driving is one of his biggest weaknesses, and a lack of accuracy off the tee just won’t be conducive to succeeding at Bethage.

Those numbers wouldn’t be concerning if he was inside the top 15 or 20 for driving distance, but he’s not as long as he once was either.

Team Europe must be licking their lips right now.

No pro ever wants to see one of their peers struggle but things are just different in the buildup to the Ryder Cup.

Thomas just hasn’t been good enough during the second half of the season, and his failure to neither kick on nor fall further down the points list put Bradley in a truly no-win situation.

The only positive Thomas can cling to is the fact that there are still 12 days remaining before the Ryder Cup actually begins and as we all know in golf, things can change very quickly indeed.