Why Justin Thomas Needs To Be On Ryder Cup Team USA

Justin Thomas' appearance at this year's Ryder Cup could be in jeopardy.

The two-time PGA Champion has missed three of the four Major cuts this year and has seen his world ranking slide to 24th, his lowest since the 2016 season. He's missed four of his last six cuts and has a best finish of 4th this season in a year that hasn't matched the 15-time PGA Tour winner's usual standards.

JT is without a victory since May 2022 and currently sits 14th in the US Ryder Cup standings. It's plausible to think that he could miss out on Rome but I don't see how captain Zach Johnson won't be picking him. 

Thomas is a former World No.1 with two Ryder Cup appearances and three Presidents Cup starts. He is an experienced head for the US team and when Zach Johnson thinks about his partnerships for the four balls and foursomes, he'll have the duo of Thomas and Jordan Spieth front and center in his mind.

Thomas and Spieth won one of their two matches together in 2021 at Whistling Straits, where Thomas beat Tyrrell Hatton 4&3 in the singles, and the pair famously went 3-1 at the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris, where he defeated Rory McIlroy in the opening singles match.

At the 2022 Presidents Cup, Thomas and Spieth also went 4/4 before he lost to Si Woo Kim in the singles.

Thomas has become an integral part of Team USA over the past five years and a few bad results in Majors this year shouldn't put an end to his hopes. He still has four events left (two if he doesn't make the Playoffs) to try and qualify for the team without the need of a pick. 

Even if he doesn't make the Playoffs, Thomas should be considered. Ryder Cup 18-hole match play is very different to 72-hole stroke play and he's proved time and time again that he's a man you want on your team.

Thomas Bjorn surprisingly picked Sergio Garcia in 2018, despite the Spaniard missing his last five consecutive Major cuts. Catriona Matthew picked Suzann Pettersen in 2019, the out-of-retirement Norwegian who went on to hole the winning putt on Sunday afternoon. Team match play events require more than just recent form - especially when you're away from home, where you haven't won since 1993.

JT is the kind of guy who has shown he can handle that kind of pressure, while there is no guarantee someone else could even though they might have been on better form.

"I'm hitting a lot of good shots," Thomas said at The Open, where he followed up an 82 with a 71 in round two. "I'm just making so many bonehead mistakes and crazy things happening, and I'll be fine.

"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. 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.

"I would like to think that my record is my best argument. I love the team events. I thrive in them. I just enjoy it. Playing with a partner could kind of ease me a little bit, relax me.

"Yeah, like I said, I don't want to put him in this position. I hate even having to hope for a pick. This is the first time since I first qualified that I've had to rely on a captain's pick, and it's not fun, especially when you're trending the wrong way when other people are trending toward it.

"But I'm just hoping that I can finish this year out strong and my record speaks for itself, and I can bring the Cup home."

If he does need a pick, JT will surely be one of the first names out of Zach Johnson's mouth.

"Well, as a friend and roommate, I'm concerned just because he's my buddy and I know what he's capable of and that sort of thing," Johnson said of Thomas' form.

"Yeah, obviously he's a stalwart in that event, right. I don't know his record off the top of my head, but I know it's pretty good. It's very good, yeah. Those kind of moments like that, he's one of the best there is.

"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 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."

Thomas plays in this week's 3M Open as well as next week's Wyndham Championship in the hope of making it into the top 70 for the Playoffs. He's currently 75th in the standings so a good week should get him into the first week's BMW Championship, where he'll be hoping to progress into the top 30 to make week three's season-ending Tour Championship.

Don't write him off just yet.