GREENSBORO (N.C.) — Justin Thomas’s quest for a place in the FedEx Cup Playoffs of 2023 came down to Sunday at the Wyndham championship. He was in and out several times, then nearly sunk a walk-off pitch for a birdie, but it was not to be. Ben Griffin who missed this week’s cut held on to the last spot, and Thomas was left out at number. Nine points separate the two.
“I did the best I could with every situation.” Thomas, after his first round, but before learning he had been eliminated, said, “I fought as hard I could.” “That’s what I’ve been doing my entire life, my entire career, and I didn’t want to stop now.”
Thomas, who was ranked No. Thomas, who entered the week at No.
Thomas qualified for the playoffs that begin next week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Memphis, each of his eight previous seasons. He won the championship in 2017 and finished in the top 10 of the final standings five out of the six seasons.
WOW!
An INCREDIBLE effort from @JustinThomas34 to try and keep his season alive!#FedExCup https://t.co/TOm1YQoG6q pic.twitter.com/ba64xcZLk5
— PGA TOUR August 6, 2020
Thomas, who was only 70th in the previous season’s playoffs, did all he could to prolong his season. He added the 3M Open last week to his schedule and made his first appearance at the Wyndham in 2016. Thomas finished 71st but said that he learned a lot.
He said, “I feel as if I’m me again.” “I think that today was more difficult than trying to win the golf tournament.”
Thomas recovered from a 70-round opening round, which dropped him down to 81 the standings with rounds of 65 and 66, and entered the final day projected to finish no. 72. He drained a birdie putt of 39 feet at No. Then, he shot eight consecutive pars including a missed 8-foot birdie at 14.
When his chances started to look dim, he took full advantage of the par-5 15 th by splitting the fairway, hitting a bomb that was 332-yards long. He turned to his caddie Jim “Bones Mackay” as he walked to his ball and said: “It’s nice to play this hole for the very first time in the week from the fairway.”
Thomas took full advantage of the situation, drilling a 7 iron from 214 yards down to 15 feet. His eagle putt on a downhill slope trickled in. Thomas clenched the right hand and pointed up to the sky. This boosted him up to number 70. It moved him up to No. He made a costly bogey on the next hole. When he hit a 9-iron on the par-3 16, the wind shifted and the ball soared into the air. He missed a par putt of 30 feet because he made a bad chip short of the hole. It didn’t affect his standing at first until Adam Svensson birdied the 15th hole to leapfrog Thomas and steal valuable points.
Thomas scrambled to par at 17, but pulled his tee-shot at 18 left, into the trees. Thomas, who was lying in pine straw with a tree in front of him and forced to use a low-hooking 8 iron because of the tree, contorted himself in a whirlybird movement reminiscent Tiger Woods’s escapes from trouble. The shot was remarkable, but it stopped 34 feet shy of the flag.
Justin Thomas hits a shot at the 18th green during the final round 2023 Wyndham championship at Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro in North Carolina. (Photo: Logan Whitton/Getty Images).
Thomas considered his options. He decided to use his 56-degree wedge to achieve an up-and down par, but then he chose to trap a sixty-degree wedge to try and make it. A birdie would secure a spot in the playoff. The ball bounced and kissed the pole, landing a foot away from the hole. He placed his hands on his forehead and fell to his knees in disbelief. Knowing that he had come so close to punching a ticket to Memphis, he knew if he didn’t do something dramatic – i.e., a dramatic finish -.
Thomas stated that it would have been even more amazing if the ball had gone through.
Thomas began his waiting game after the play was suspended more than two hours following Thomas’ tap-in. Thomas recalled how in 2015, he had been told that his Tour Championship spot was secured but players on the course birdied and he got bumped up to No. 32. He knew that he would need help. But he did not get it.
He said, “I did my best and I tried as hard as I possibly could to shoot the lowest score I could.”
