Justin Thomas raises eyebrows with 'messed up' Ryder Cup claim: "It's the truth"

PGA Tour pro Justin Thomas raised eyebrows when he suggested he would rather make the Ryder Cup team than advance to the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Ben Smith

06 Aug 2023

Justin Thomas raises eyebrows with 'messed up' Ryder Cup claim: "It's the truth" — Justin Thomas raises eyebrows with 'messed up' Ryder Cup claim: "It's the…

Former World No.1 Justin Thomas found himself in an unfamiliar situation heading into the final event of the PGA Tour's regular season.

The tour pro, who made his debut here at the Wyndham Championship 14 years ago, faced a race to make the postseason.

Thomas hasn't missed the FedEx Cup playoffs since he joined the tour.

When you couple that thought with a Ryder Cup spot on the line for JT, it's not unreasonable to suggest he's feeling the heat right now.

Credit must go to Thomas, who turned in rounds of 70, 65 and 66 to give himself a chance to do what he needs to do.

"It's nerve wracking," Thomas said. "But it's a different kind of nerves."

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

"If I just don't get it done for what I need to get done this week, then it sucks and my year's over," he added.

But what he added caught the attention of golf fans. Thomas explained that he would 'legitimately' would rather make Zach Johnson's Ryder Cup side than the playoffs.

In full, here is what he said:

"I mean, I want to make the Ryder Cup team so bad. I mean, it's so important to me. I mean, I legitimately would rather make the Ryder Cup than the Playoffs, which is really, really messed up to say, but it's just the truth.

"But because of that, I think that's why I played so poorly the last month and a half or two months. Like it's just I'm putting so much pressure on myself to play well, it's very similar to what happened to me in 2016.

"I felt like I started to try so hard at the end of the year when if I just would have kept doing what I was doing and trust my ability and my talent, then it could have been good enough. Hopefully I learn from my mistake and play well tomorrow and just see what happens."

Justin Thomas raises eyebrows with 'messed up' Ryder Cup claim:

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Here's how some golf fans reacted:

"Why is that 'messed up to say'? It is completely vice versa."

"Duh. No one gives a s--- about the FedEx.

"I have been hating on JT recently just because he's been bad but he's still got it and needs to be on the team or we are f-----."

"JT coming out and saying he doesn't care about the playoffs. Outside of the majors, basically sums up the PGA to be honest. Pretty watered down the last couple years. At least with LIV there's relegation, every big name playing two weekends a month, and actual competition for places."

"He doesn't deserve to be on it this year."

"I feel like a spot in the Ryder Cup and JT feeding off all that energy is what he may need to sneak out some points and get his game back on track."

"That's not messed up to say, the Ryder Cup is way more prestigious. It makes total sense to feel that way. He has obviously had some really good success in team events, and I’m a big JT fan, but I don’t think he should be on the team."

"Dude is trying so hard to get picked up for Ryder Cup maybe he should focus on his actual golf game. JT is delusional."

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