Is Justin Thomas OUT of the Ryder Cup following yet another MC on PGA Tour?!
Justin Thomas is on verge of missing the FedEx Cup Playoffs, and a place in the United States Ryder Cup team.
Justin Thomas' struggles once again continued in the second round of the 3M Open as the former World No.1 missed a fifth cut in his last seven starts on the PGA Tour.
Thomas could only card a level-par 71 on Friday leaving him at 2-under par and two strokes outside of the halfway cut mark at TPC Twin Cities.
The American is now not only on the verge of missing out on the FedEx Cup Playoffs in two weeks time, but now also a serious question mark when it comes to making Zach Johnson's United States Ryder Cup team this September.
Thomas started this week at 75th in the FedEx Cup standings, with the top 70 progressing to the first FedEx Cup Playoffs event at the FedEx St Jude Championship in two weeks time.
Following his latest MC on the PGA Tour, Thomas will now likely slip closer to 80th in the standings depending on how results go this week.
Thomas is a serial 15-time winner on the PGA Tour, but his last victory now dates back to the 2022 US PGA Championship last summer.
JT has picked up three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2023, but it is his recent form that is now of huge concern for not only him, but the US Ryder Cup team.
Thomas has played in the last two Ryder Cup matches in 2018 and 2021, and he has proven a huge thorn in the European side by taking 6.5 pts from a possible 9.
Justin Thomas has now missed a 5th cut in his last 7 starts on the PGA Tour
Will he make the US Ryder Cup team?
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) July 28, 2023
The former World No.1 has regularly teamed up with his good friend Jordan Spieth at the Ryder Cup.
But that partnership looks in severe danger ahead of Rome following Thomas' recent results.
JT will likely now need a big performance at the Wyndham Championship next week in order to throw his hat back in the ring for a place in Johnson's team.
Should Thomas not play his way into the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings after next week, then he will not be able to play any more competitive events on the PGA Tour in the lead up to the Ryder Cup.
As it stands, Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay make up the automatic top six players in the US Ryder Cup team.
Johnson will then have six captain's picks, of which you could argue he is spoilt for choice.
He will make those six picks after the end of the Tour Championship at the end of August.
US vice captain Fred Couples let the cat out of the bag earlier this week when revealing Max Homa, Cameron Young and Spieth will be picked regardless of what happens over the coming weeks.
Couples also mentioned Keegan Bradley's name.
That would therefore mean 10 players have already punched a ticket on the plane to Italy.
It remains to be seen who the remaining two players on the US Ryder Cup will be, but JT is certainly right up against it after his latest MC.
The second round of the 3M Open was suspended late in the day on Friday due to inclement weather.
A number of big names are in contention for the tournament but there is a log-jam at the top with three players currently sharing the lead on 10-under par at the time of publication.
Kevin Streelman, JT Poston and Lee Hodges (still out on the course) are in a tie for the lead, with the likes of Hideki Matsuyama, Emiliano Grillo, Billy Horschel and Tony Finau hot on their heels.
