Ryder Cup skipper after Justin Thomas' Open disaster-class? "I'm concerned"

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson admitted he was concerned with the form of Justin Thomas after his dreadful Open Championship.

Ben Smith

21 Jul 2023

Ryder Cup skipper after Justin Thomas' Open disaster-class? "I'm concerned"

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson admitted he was 'concerned' with the form of Justin Thomas after his disastrous Open.

Two-time major champion Thomas has endured what could be described as a miserable major season, given his lofty standards.

He missed the cut out of absolutely nowhere at the Masters, tied for 65th at the PGA Championship and missed the cut by 'a zillion' at the U.S. Open.

The former World No. 1 looked forlorn during the first round of the 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.

Open Championship 2023 live leaderboard

If things were bad at the U.S. Open championship then they got even worse for Thomas here.

He slumped to an opening round of 11-over 82. Did you know that was the worst round of his major career?Yeah, it's that bad.

"Well, as a friend and roommate, I'm concerned," said Johnson to a pool of reporters at Hoylake.

"Just because he's my buddy and I know what he's capable of and that sort of thing."

Ryder Cup skipper after Justin Thomas' Open disaster-class?

Johnson is right to point out what Thomas is capable of, particularly in the Ryder Cup. He boasts a stellar record.

"He's one of the best there is," added the 47-year-old after his second round of 69, which left him on the 2-over cut line.

Bunker to Bunker for Justin Thomas. He would go on to make a 9 on the par-5 18th. Shoots a round of 82 (+11). #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/rVN82yaLzm
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) July 20, 2023

Johnson continued:

"Bottom line is this game is really hard. There's going to be peaks. There's going to be some valleys. Let's hope whatever sort of non-peak he's in, it's short. I know he's got a great team. I love his coaches. I love how he -- he works. He's a worker.

"Guys with talent like that that work and aren't afraid to put their work in the dirt, if you will, not to be cliche, typically find it. It's just a matter of when, not if. He's too darned good.

"I might be slightly concerned, like I said, as a friend, but I'm not worried about him because I know what he does and I know what he's capable of."

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☠️ Justin Thomas…
pic.twitter.com/MHsFOK8SRJ
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) July 20, 2023

Thomas previously said he was 'humiliated' with his performance at Los Angeles Country Club.

At the time, he said if he won the Open then nobody would remember that he missed the cut 'by a zillion'.

Going forward, Thomas will need to improve dramatically. He is in danger of missing out on the PGA Tour's FedExCup playoffs at this rate.

He might even need some sponsor exemptions into the designated events next season, which is not a sentence we expected to be writing about the golfer.

Thomas said:

"I want to make the Ryder Cup more than anything. I'm probably honestly trying too hard to do it. It reminds me a lot of my first or second year on tour.

"I've tried so hard to make that team for the first time. I'm in a very similar position. I've been trying to make it easy on Zach and get in the top six, but I seem to not want to do that with my golf.

"[I] have a couple events left to try to get in the playoffs and then make a little bit of a run and try to prove a point."

He added: "I'm trying to look at the big picture. I'm trying to not focus too much on days like yesterday. I'm trying not to dwell on it or just -- you never want to do it in any event, but it just sucks when it's the first round of a major and you have no chance anymore.

"But I mean, everybody has their waves, their kind of momentum and rides and rock bottoms, whatever you want to call it. I just keep telling myself, this is it, I'm coming out of it, and I unfortunately have surprised myself a couple times with some bad rounds.

"It doesn't mean a day's good play like today doesn't get a spark going. I don't know. All I can do is try to be in the frame of mind for it, too."

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