While Keegan Bradley did not appear to have a huge pool of players to choose from for his six captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup, it did seem that Justin Thomas was the one option who felt like a lock to be involved at Bethpage.
Justin Thomas ended his near-three year wait for a win on the PGA Tour by clinching the RBC Heritage in April. He also finished seventh in the qualification standings for the Ryder Cup.
The two-time major champion is also one of those players who appears to relish being on the biggest stage in the sport. So it would have been a huge shock had Keegan Bradley opted to not pick the 32-year-old for New York.
Unfortunately for Thomas, he missed the opportunity to make a statement at the Procore Championship this past week.
Justin Thomas a worry ahead of the Ryder Cup following the Procore Championship
Of the Ryder Cup players in the field at Silverado, Thomas finished the lowest. He ended the week in 69th at one over par having failed to break 70 in any of his four rounds in Napa.
And speaking on Dan on Golf, Dan Rapaport suggested that the statistics behind Thomas’ performance will be particularly worrying for Bradley.
“Justin Thomas, I’m a little bit concerned about. I’m a little bit concerned about Justin Thomas for a couple of reasons. He finished 69th, so only beat three guys who made the cut and he saved himself with the short game,” he said.
“The ball-striking for Justin Thomas is really alarming right now. Lost strokes off the tee. This is a terrible number, -3.923 for a guy who at his peak was one of the best iron players in the world is a really, really poor number. -2.6 putting, you need to make putts in matchplay. And if we look at Justin Thomas’ results for the year, he’s got that one good finish at the Tour Championship and the Travelers, and a lot of meh in between. So I’m a little concerned about JT, not a great showing.”
Justin Thomas’ superb record for Team USA across his career
In fairness to Thomas, his career record in team events is outstanding. He was absolutely superb at the 2018 Ryder Cup, beating Rory McIlroy in the top singles match at Le Golf National.
And actually, after being a contentious pick for Rome two years ago, Thomas proved to be one of the USA’s better players.
| Event | Points won | Overall Record |
| 2017 Presidents Cup | 3.5 | 3-1-1 |
| 2018 Ryder Cup | 4 | 4-1-0 |
| 2019 Presidents Cup | 3.5 | 3-1-1 |
| 2021 Ryder Cup | 2.5 | 2-1-1 |
| 2022 Presidents Cup | 4 | 4-1-0 |
| 2023 Ryder Cup | 1.5 | 1-2-1 |
| Total | 19 | 17-7-4 |
That suggests that what happened at the Procore Championship will count for little once he is teeing it up at Bethpage.
However, it would clearly be a huge gamble to use him in the foursomes sessions. And Bradley also needs to find a new partner for Thomas, with most of his appearances to date coming alongside Jordan Spieth.
If Thomas struggles on Friday in New York and USA find themselves playing catch up, there is arguably a very real possibility that he may end up playing just twice throughout the week.
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