Justin Thomas is staring at a lengthy period watching on from the sidelines after his quest to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs came up agonisingly short at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The 15-time PGA Tour winner and former world number one finished in a tie for 12th, which left him at 71st in the season-long FedEx points list, with only the top 70 advancing to next week’s St. Jude Championship in Memphis.
Thomas, a two-time Major champion having lifted the Wanamaker Trophy for a second time in 2022, came within inches of a sensation pitch-in on the final hole, his ball bouncing off the pin and coming to rest within tap-in range.
This came after a loose drive on 18, which forced the 30-year-old to play a spectacular hook with an 8-iron around a tree just yards in front of him.
PAIN. 😦Justin Thomas with a brutal near-birdie 3 on 18 as he settles for par and a final-round 68.📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/b32vXsdhu7August 6, 2023
No one can accuse the American of not giving it his all, his fine recovery effort somehow making it to just off the front of the green.
He followed that approach shot, one that almost left him on his backside in the pine straw, with a near-perfect pitch.
However, when it failed to drop, Thomas did end up on the floor – and his season could well have come to a premature end.
Thomas starred in the Netflix Full Swing docuseries, where in spoke in length about his passion for winning and how it hurts to struggle.
Can use adversity as an opportunity to shy away from a challenge, or take it head on. Was a tough season for me, but I actually had fun battling it out and playing golf this week. It’s why we play. Beyond gutted to miss the playoffs, but I’m proud of how hard I fought #onwardAugust 7, 2023
This one will definitely hurt, although Thomas was quick to share his thoughts on Twitter, where he said he was “proud of how hard I fought”.
The 2017 FedEx Cup champion started the final day of the Wyndham Championship in 72nd spot, and briefly flirted with safety at 70th, but after parring the 18th in spectacular style he found himself on the wrong side of that number.
Thomas’ fate wasn’t sealed until some time later, but in finishing eight points adrift of 70th Ben Griffin, he will now miss the Playoffs for the first time since his rookie season in 2014.
The 2017 and 2022 PGA Championship winner has been out of sorts this season, and he came into the Wyndham Championship having missed five cuts from his last seven starts.
He also carded two rounds over 80 in this year’s Majors, although he’s frequently insisted that his game has not been too far off.
However, despite proving a valuable member of the US Ryder Cup team in the past (his record in two appearances is 6-2-1), qualification for the biennial showdown in Rome at the end of September is now out of his hands.
Should Thomas not make captain Zach Johnson’s team, it may be quite a while before we see one of the PGA Tour's most entertaining players in action again.
