Justin Thomas says his ‘record is his best argument’ to make US Ryder Cup team after missing the cut at THREE majors this season… but admits he will not be writing a ‘love letter’ US team captain Zach Johnson
- Justin Thomas missed the cut at the Open Championship in Liverpool on Friday
- The two-time PGA Champion has been struggling with his form this season
- The Ryder Cup hopeful said he’d ‘been making so many bonehead mistakes’
Justin Thomas and Zach Johnson are sharing a house at the Open this week. Thankfully for Thomas, the US Ryder Cup captain had gone to bed by the time he returned home on Thursday night with an opening round of 82 on his card.
There was time for chats around the breakfast table, either, with Johnson on the tee on Friday just after 8am.
The two friends are yet to address the big issue that requires a serious conversation: will Johnson pick Thomas for the Ryder Cup?
Golf’s greatest team competition begins in two months and Thomas is at rock bottom. He missed the cut here at Royal Liverpool. His level-par second round showed heart but he needed more than that at 11-over.
Thomas missed the cut at the Masters and at the US Open. He only just made the cut in the defence of his PGA Championship.
Justin Thomas (pictured) missed the cut for the third time at a major championship on Friday at the Open after going eleven shots over par through 36 holes
His recent form has given US Ryder Cup team captain Zach Johnson (pictured) a conundrum
Thomas (pictured) said his record at the biannual tournament was his best bet of making the team but also admitted that he had ‘probably been trying to hard’ of late
His opening round here was the second time he has shot in the 80s in majors this year after a similarly disastrous loop at the Masters.
‘I want to make the Ryder Cup more than anything,’ said Thomas. ‘I’m probably trying too hard. I’m hitting a lot of good shots, I’m just making so many bonehead mistakes. Making two doubles and a quad (on Thursday) is eight-year-old stuff — not someone who’s trying to win the Open.
‘It’s not like I’m going to write Zach a love letter or anything. I would like to think my record is my best argument.’
And that is the conundrum for Johnson. Thomas is a former world No 1 and two-time major champion. He won the PGA Championship last year.
Despite coming in at evens for his second round, Thomas (pictured) struggled to an 11-over par finish on Thursday, hitting a quadruple bogey on the 18th hole
![He also said that he would not be writing Johnson (pictured) a 'love letter', with the US team captain saying that he was 'concerned because he' [Thomas] was his buddy'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/07/22/00/73491835-12325675-image-a-118_1689982137415.jpg "Ryder Cup hopeful Justin Thomas says his 'record is his best argument' to make US team amid poor form 12")
He also said that he would not be writing Johnson (pictured) a ‘love letter’, with the US team captain saying that he was ‘concerned because he’ [Thomas] was his buddy’
His Ryder Cup record is superb, too, with six-and-a-half points from a possible nine. He just happens to be playing like a duffer.
‘I’m concerned because he’s my buddy but I’m not worried about him because I know what he’s capable of doing,’ said US skipper Johnson. ‘He’s a stalwart in the event. He’s one of the best there is.’
For all the pain he has caused in Ryder Cups, Thomas received plenty of encouragement from the gallery.
Much of that, he suspects, is down to the fact he and best mate Jordan Spieth are now minority stakeholders in Leeds United. ‘It’s the most cheers I’ve had over here,’ said Thomas.
