Justin Thomas attends a press conference ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup. | Photo by Andreas Solaro/Getty Images
Ahead of the Ryder Cup, Justin Thomas spoke with the media and detailed his approach to dealing with outside chatter.
Justin Thomas’ selection to the 2023 Ryder Cup was met with divisiveness from fans and media alike.
But Thomas, a two-time major champion and arguably Team USA’s best match play player, has not paid attention to his critics or negative comments online.
“I definitely haven’t kept the receipts,” Thomas said Tuesday.
“After I was picked for the team, it doesn’t matter what it is, especially when it comes to people and stuff online, everybody’s got an opinion, and theirs is right and everybody else’s is wrong… So for that exact reason, I stayed away from social media and stuff online because I knew nothing good would come from it.”
Thomas made the smart move of avoiding social media, as he needed to focus on his game instead.
It must have paid off.
The two-time major champion recently finished solo 5th at the Fortinet Championship, his first event since failing to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America via Getty Images
Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, and Jordan Spieth walk the 16th hole during a Ryder Cup practice round.
“I clearly am in a lot better place than I was at certain times in the summer,” Thomas admitted. “But I mean, it’s golf. That doesn’t mean that, you know, something — you just never know. I had plenty of signs of great golf this summer as well. I had quite a few less of them, and I had more signs of the other.”
Indeed, Thomas showed some flashes over the past few months.
He tied for 9th at the Travelers Championship.
Then, he finished in a tie for 12th at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina.
But he missed the cut at both the U.S. Open and Open Championship. Thomas shot rounds in the 80s at both majors.
“I did not feel like I could win golf tournaments this past year with the state that I was in mentally,” Thomas added. “Yeah, a lot of that has to do with how I was playing, and one does generally feed off of the other, but I just feel like I’m in a lot better place [now].”
Thomas has not won since May 2022, when he captured his second PGA Championship victory at Southern Hills.
Despite that, Captain Zach Johnson felt obligated to pick Thomas because of his excellent match play record and experience of playing in the Ryder Cup on European soil.
Thomas was the lone bright spot in 2018, when the Europeans trounced the Americans in France. The former Alabama star went 4-1-0 that week.
“The only thing that mattered to me was that Zach and the vice captains and the, I guess, at that time, other six guys on the team wanted me on the team,” Thomas said.
“That’s been my thought the whole time, and I’m very glad that they did and do have faith in me. And now that I’m here, all of us hold the same weight as the other one. We are all one, and it’s just our job to go out there and try to win points.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
