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Dec 18, 2023

‘You don’t leave JT at home’ Thomas tabbed among 2023 U.S. Captain’s Picks

Justin Thomas had just missed the cut at The Open Championship. Equaling the worst score of his PGA Tour career (82) in the first round, Thomas fell eight shots below the cut line. And as he prepared

Justin Thomas had just missed the cut at The Open Championship.

Equaling the worst score of his PGA Tour career (82) in the first round, Thomas fell eight shots below the cut line.

And as he prepared to slam his trunk that Friday at Royal Liverpool and make the early trip back to the U.S., a dejected Thomas fielded a handful of questions from reporters, who dipped their toes into the interview waters, prolonging the inevitable question about whether Thomas had just ruined his Ryder Cup hopes.

“It's almost like everybody is looking around, who wants to be the first one to ask, and I know everybody is thinking it and they know I'm thinking it and I voiced that,” Thomas said.

That day, Thomas expressed this: “I want to make the Ryder Cup more than anything. I’m probably, honestly, trying too hard to do it.”

Thomas, of course, went on to miss the cut at the following week’s 3M Open before rallying for a T-12 finish at the Wyndham Championship. His hail mary to make the FedExCup Playoffs, however, came up a shot short, and Thomas had been left to wait out his Ryder Cup fate from his home in Jupiter, Florida, while other contenders for those six Captain’s picks battled it out in postseason arenas in Memphis, Chicago and Atlanta.

But on Monday morning, Thomas could breathe a sigh of relief. U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Zach Johnson phoned him, letting him know that despite the worst season of his career – Thomas posted just three top-10s in 20 starts and missed three of four major cuts – Thomas’ record in these international team events (16-5-3 between the Ryder and Presidents cups) was too formidable to pass on.

“He has without question been the heart and soul of [the U.S. Team], Ryder Cups, our emotional leader I would say, and I don't think he would argue with that,” Johnson said Tuesday of Thomas. “He just leads by example. Overall, a fantastic Ryder Cup record. His passion for the Ryder Cup is very evident. … In my mind, he was born for this, and you just don't leave JT at home.”

Thomas joined Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler and Sam Burns as Johnson’s six picks. Spieth, Morikawa and to a certain extent Fowler, who contended at the U.S. Open before winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic this summer, were always considered locks for this U.S. Team. Koepka, who finished seventh in points, was too, though for a while there was the question whether his lack of PGA Tour play this past year would hurt his prospects; it didn’t.

Book the tickets, gentlemen ✈ With his six Captain's Picks, @ZachJohnsonPGA selects: 🇺🇸@BKoepka 🇺🇸@JordanSpieth 🇺🇸@collin_morikawa 🇺🇸@RickieFowler 🇺🇸@JustinThomas34 🇺🇸@SamBurns66 pic.twitter.com/V7PbDlzaZZ

Johnson said he and Koepka had been communicating for months before Johnson selected Koepka, this year’s PGA Championship winner and runner-up at the Masters, to his third U.S. Ryder Cup Team.

“He basically earned his way on the team, if you're going to get down to the pennies and dollars of it,” Johnson said of Koepka. “It was a pretty easy pick. Brooks is great in the team room and great inside the ropes. That goes without saying. These guys wanted him. I wanted him. A very natural fit.”

With Johnson explaining that his process in filling out his squad went beyond just results and form, it also made sense why Burns was included. This year’s WGC-Dell Match Play champion, Burns is best friends with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and another positive addition to the team room.

“I definitely dreamed it many, many times,” Burns, the only rookie among the six picks, said of playing a Ryder Cup.

Thomas, even with two Ryder Cups already under his belt, still dreams about the storied competition, though he hadn’t had the opportunity to do much of that recently. Thomas shared Tuesday that he had a lot of sleepless nights these past few months wondering if he would make or miss this U.S. Team.

Once he got the call from Johnson, well, he still didn’t sleep well Monday night. Just for a different reason.

“I was so excited,” Thomas said. “It was kind of ironic.”

Thomas didn’t touch a club for two weeks after the Wyndham, so while many of his teammates are likely ready to unplug for a little bit following grueling playoff runs, Thomas is eager to get back on the competitive saddle. In fact, he’ll tee it up at next week’s fall opener, the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California – and with the weight of the Ryder Cup unknown finally lifted.

Thomas wanted this, a spot on this 12-man American squad that will head to Marco Simone in a few weeks, more than anything, and he’s now gotten his wish.

“Yeah, I did put a lot of pressure on myself to make this team because it does mean so much to me,” Thomas said. “…These other guys can attest, you can want something too bad, and I'm sure all of us have tried to win golf tournaments too much or tried to force the issue, and there were potentially times this season I did. But yeah, I'm very, very fortunate to be here, and Zach has been very vocal and made it sound great that we are all equal on this team.

“He said there's 12 of us, and I'm sure as important as everybody else.”