While Justin Thomas does not need to worry about securing his ticket to the Tour Championship, he is one of the players still with plenty to play for over the next three weeks.
Of course, Justin Thomas‘s fortunes were one of the key storylines during the FedEx Cup playoffs last year, with the two-time major champion proving to be the last man in at East Lake after a turbulent year.
This season has been a lot more impressive for Thomas. He won the RBC Heritage, while his performances have been a lot less erratic. With that, he finds himself fifth in the FedEx Cup heading into the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
But obviously, Thomas is one of the players hoping to ensure that he is on Keegan Bradley‘s team for the Ryder Cup in September. As things stand, the 32-year-old is seventh in the standings. You would imagine that he will make the team one way or another, but he will not want to leave anything to chance.
Justin Thomas issues his verdict on TPC Southwind ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship
Thomas finished tied for 30th at TPC Southwind last year, 12 shots behind Hideki Matsuyama. He finished tied for 13th on his previous visit to the venue in 2022. He did win a WGC event at TPC Southwind in 2020.
There have been plenty of changes made to the course ahead of this year’s tournament. And speaking after a practice round on Wednesday, Thomas issued his verdict on the venue, before going on to note how the rough looked particularly brutal.
“The course looks awesome. Obviously having been closed with the changes and no play, it’s in unbelievable shape. The fairways are so perfect. The greens are brand new. They’re firm but they’re some of the best surfaces that we’ll ever putt on,” he said.
“I feel like the slope of the greens are definitely softer, and that part will be a little easier in terms of kind of around the greens and chipping once they settle and aren’t quite as firm and fresh like this, but the rough is the longest I’ve ever seen it, so it’s definitely a premium on putting the ball in the fairway on every hole kind of thing.”
How Justin Thomas has prepared for the FedEx Cup playoffs with the Ryder Cup also emerging on the horizon
The next few weeks are going to be incredibly draining for a lot of players, with three tournaments on the spin against so many of the world’s best with plenty to play for.
And Thomas is one of several players who will have one eye on the Ryder Cup in late September. So it is no surprise that he suggested that he made sure to take some time away from the game after finishing up at The Open Championship.
“Yeah, was very excited to take some time off. It was quite a grind, quite a stretch from really the PGA until about the Open. It feels like a lot of golf, a lot of traveling,” he said.
“Yeah, it was just nice to honestly take some time away, just relax a little bit, not do much and get back into it. I think at least for me, the time off is nice to where I’m excited to go out to the course and practice and feel like I’m getting ready for something again because if not it can become a little — some days wake up and maybe not quite as motivated or excited as others.
“Honestly, just happy to be here and rested and refreshed.”
It should not take a lot for Thomas to book his ticket to the Ryder Cup at this point. Perhaps another impressive performance at a course where he has won previously could be the clincher.
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