Justin Thomas' playoff, Ryder Cup hopes sink after latest missed cut

 

[July 29, 2023]  Justin Thomas' hopes of extending his FedEx Cup playoff streak and making a third consecutive Ryder Cup team may have sunk along with the two balls he put in the water on the 18th hole at TPC Twin Cities on Friday.

It was the ninth hole of the day for Thomas, and the double bogey dropped him to 2-under par for the tournament. He found the water again on the par-3 fourth hole to fall to 3 over for his round.

Thomas closed with four birdies over his final five holes, but that was still at least one shot shy of making the projected 3 under cut in his first trip to Blaine, Minn. It is the fifth time in the past seven events that Thomas has failed to make the weekend.

That includes at last month's Rocket Mortgage Classic, another event the struggling 30-year-old added to his schedule in a desperate attempt to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs for a ninth consecutive year.

The 2017 FedEx Cup champion entered this week 75th in the standings. Only 70 players will qualify for the first leg, and Thomas will fall even further with only next week's Wyndham Championship remaining.

Thomas left without speaking to reporters on Friday, and will have to rebound in a big way from the toughest stretch of his PGA Tour career next week in order to keep his season alive.

Thomas has slipped to 24th in the Official World Golf Ranking, the lowest he has been in seven years. He'll likely fall even further after the end of this week's 3M Open.

More important is Thomas' increasingly sinking chances of making the United States Ryder Cup team. Currently 14th in the U.S. rankings, Thomas is extremely unlikely to earn one of the six automatic spots. That would leave him at the mercy of the six captain's picks Zach Johnson will make next month.

However, Thomas' form over the past several months will make it difficult for even his good friend to select Thomas to his fourth Ryder Cup.

In addition to missing the cut at three of this year's four majors, Thomas has failed to make the weekend at the Memorial in addition to his shortcomings at Rocket Mortgage Classic and 3M Open.

His lone top-10 in his past 11 starts was a T9 at the Travelers Championship.

Thomas said on Tuesday that he was embracing the grind of trying to play his way into the playoffs and stay in the Ryder Cup conversation. He'll now head to Greensboro, N.C., for his first appearance at the Wyndham since 2016.

--Field Level Media

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