While it was Nico Echavarria who won the ZOZO Championship, much of the attention has centred around the fact that Justin Thomas finished in a tie for second in Japan.
Justin Thomas made a successful return to the ZOZO Championship; matching his result from his previous appearance back in 2021. Thomas made only one bogey all week, with the 31-year-old proving to be flawless on the scorecard across the final three rounds.
Many felt that only a cold putter denied Thomas the victory. Meanwhile, plenty will be intrigued to see how the two-time major champion fares once the 2025 season gets into full swing. Obviously, 2024 has largely been a forgettable season for Thomas.
He failed to win, and his form meant that he missed out on a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup. And consistency seemed to be such a big issue for Thomas. So it will be intriguing to see if his performance at Narashino proves to be a big step in the right direction or a false dawn.
What many do not realise about Justin Thomas
It would appear that Smylie Kaufman is confident that it is the former. Speaking on The Smylie Show, Kaufman suggested that Thomas has put in so much work behind the scenes as he looks to rediscover his best form.
“I’ve been saying this for a while now about JT for next year, I just think when you miss one of these teams and don’t get picked, first off that’s almost like the motivation that you needed as a player. ‘I need to look myself in the mirror’, I think this is what Justin did this off-season,” he said.
“From what I have seen, how much work he has put in this fall; I don’t think people realise how hard these guys work, and how hard a guy like Justin works to want to get back, to want to be one of the best players in the world. I think he’s motivated by a multitude of things, I think he knows he can still be a top 10 player in the world. He knows that he should be an automatic qualifier on points every year for these cup teams.”
How Thomas performed in the early stages of the 2024 season
Thomas has been some way short of his best for some time, so it is going to take a while before fans are convinced that he has put his troubles behind him. And you would imagine that he will need to end that wait for a win which stretches back more than two years.
He actually started 2024 brightly, finishing third at The American Express, sixth at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and 12th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He would also only just miss out on the top 10 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational shortly after.
So the optimism has to be cautious at this stage. The ZOZO did not boast the strongest field, and he is now likely to take several more weeks off – particularly with a child on the way.
But judging by Kaufman’s comments, Thomas is unlikely to waste a second during that time away from tournaments ahead of 2025.
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