Justin Thomas admits he took being picked for USA Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams for granted until a shock omission from the former in 2024 changed his thought process as he makes his ninth appearance for the US.
Thomas was a controversial Ryder Cup captain’s pick by Zach Johnson in 2023 after a poor season that saw him miss out on the FedEx Cup playoffs but an improved 2024 campaign wasn’t enough for Jim Furyk to give him the nod in Montreal for the Presidents Cup against the Internationals.
A mixed couple of years in team environments has given Thomas a greater appreciation for how difficult it is to make 12-player teams and after making last year’s Ryder Cup team he is full of admiration for the likes of Rory McIlroy who has played in every contest since 2010 while Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose and Lee Westwood have also proved stalwart figures for Europe over the years.
“I gave Jim [Furyk] a hard time plenty about it,” said Thomas ahead of this week’s Presidents Cup. “I’m like, there’s nothing personal. I told Keegan last year, I told Sneds, I never want to be on these teams if the players on the team and the captains on the team don’t think that I make the team better. I don’t care if I’m the seventh ranked in the points and I’m whatever I am. If I do not make the team better in any way, then I should not be on the team.
“I firmly do believe that, and I think that that’s just how it was in Montreal. I felt like — it’s coincidental, I felt like I played quite a bit better in ’24 than I did in ’23, and to be on ’23 and not on ’24 felt weird. But it was, you do take it for granted. I think there for a little while, I just assumed — it also kind of makes you grow appreciation for guys like Tiger and Phil and Rory and the Poulters and the Westwoods that just did it every year, and it was like, you just assumed that that’s how it was.
“However many years I play golf, that’s how often I’m going to be on these teams. That’s just not the case. The talent, how deep it is, and you have to really, really play well to earn your way on these teams. I respect that. I understand that. I always want to earn my way on these teams.”
Thomas is one of the more experienced heads on USA teams these days but he still enjoys picking the brains of teammates and captains alike and feels there is an openness that isn’t there on regular PGA Tour weeks.
“I really enjoy the golf side of it with the guys. The amount of sharing and talking through stuff on weeks like this, to me, I really, really enjoy. I don’t know how other guys are, but I pick the brains of my teammates and my captains a lot.
“I remember I would literally wait until team events to ask Phil questions because I knew that he wouldn’t tell me in regular tournament, but when we got to a team event, I knew he would because we were teammates and he wanted to help me out. I would literally wait and follow him around asking questions.
“I just think it’s really cool because we have the 12 best players in the U.S., and we all go about it differently, but kind of somewhat similarly in the end result, end game. But just how we all do that and get to that is just fascinating to me, and I just love hearing it because I think there’s a lot of things that we all learn from each other and push each other in.”
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