Justin Thomas rattled off rounds of 65-66-68 at the 2023 Wyndham Championship after opening with an even-par 70 on Thursday as he made one final push toward a FedEx Cup Playoffs berth. While a valiant effort, it was to no avail as he was unable to finish within the top 70 of the FedEx Cup Playoffs standings, which is the cutoff point for inclusion. The effort was not without some dramatics, either.
Thomas went to his final hole in need of a birdie to jump inside the projected top 70 of the FedEx Cup standings. While he walked off the 17th green 70th in the projections, he stepped off the tee projected 71st as players and points shifted on the leaderboard. With his tee shot finding the pine straw down the left side of the fairway, Thomas’ task became more difficult. However, he nearly pulled off the impossible when his chip for birdie from in front of the green hit the pin.
“When I walked off 17 I looked at the scoreboard, and I was projected 70th,” said Thomas. “In my head, I’m like if I get this up-and-down hopefully we’re good, but I knew if I made a birdie I would definitely be good. I wanted to give it a chance, and I feel like I gave it a pretty good chance. I hope that it all works out ’cause that one’s going to haunt me a little bit if not.”
With one last par, he left his FedEx Cup fate in the hands of others, which ultimately did not turn out in his favor. With players still on the course behind him, Thomas was at the mercy of how the positioning and FedEx Cup points shook out when he was already projected to finish 71st in the standings.
Playing his first 14 holes in 1 under, Thomas arrived at the par-5 15th in need of a spark with the end of the road coming into view. After his approach settled just outside 15 feet from the pin, the 15-time PGA Tour winner connected and unleashed a fist pump of fury as he reached 12 under for the tournament and jumped to 70th in the projected FedEx Cup standings.
Thomas would make it difficult on himself over the final three holes, however, as a poor swing on the par-3 16th set up his lone dropped shot of the day. Despite the bogey, the 30-year-old remained in the final FedEx Cup spot but his cushion was effectively deflated, and when players leapfrogged him on the leaderboard Thomas was left on the outside looking in with nothing he could do.
“It’s completely out of my control…but I did everything I could,” said Thomas. “I fought as hard as I could, I played as well as I could today and this week, and I gave myself a chance which is pretty good coming into the beginning of the week. Like I said earlier out there when I got done, I just want to keep playing because I am really starting to play well, and I am excited about playing golf so I don’t want my season to be over.”