Justin Thomas refuses to give up on his chances of reaching the FedEx Cup Playoffs, despite sitting nine places beneath the cut off with one tournament to play.
The 29-year-old is preparing to compete in the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club. Thomas has gone all the way to the Tour Championship for the last seven years, but this time, he needs to finish solo 18th or higher to stand a chance of reaching the first FedEx Cup Playoff tournament, the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
However, he insists he’s not far from his best form. He said: “I know I'm really, really close to playing some really, really good golf. The reality is, you know, I need to play well this week to give that an opportunity to come out. That's the unfortunate but also realistic part of where I'm at right now."
Thomas made similar comments before last week’s 3M Open, and missed the cut. However, he insisted he’s enjoying the challenge, and that it adds interest to the Wyndham Championship.
He continued: “I think it's an unbelievable opportunity. I'm enjoying it. I mean, I think it's great for the Wyndham. There's plenty of guys here that, some big names that are going to get this tournament kind of some of the credit it deserves I feel like on a great golf course. I'm just going to go out and play the best that I can and try to see if we can get in contention to try to win a golf tournament and see if we can get on a little run to end the season.”
To that end, Thomas reiterated he’s not far away. He continued: "I'm obviously not playing as well as I have in the past, but I'm really not playing that poorly. I haven't really gotten much out of my rounds. You know, like on Friday last week at 3M, I had two swings that literally cost me five strokes on Friday.
"If those swings go how they normally do in any other situation, you know, I'm like 15th heading into the weekend instead of missing the cut. It's just been kind of one of those seasons, I guess, if you will.”
Despite his recent struggles, which includes five missed cuts in his last seven appearances, Thomas still thinks the Wyndham Championship offers the perfect opportunity for a grandstand finish to the regular season.
He explained: “I have an opportunity to play well this week, get into the Playoffs and to go to three courses that I love. I have a chance to have one of the craziest endings to a PGA Tour season and I'm going to try to do that.”
With the prospect of a place in the US Ryder Cup team also in the balance, for Thomas, it's shaping up to be a crucial week in more ways than one.
