Justin Thomas knows the feeling, but this time there is much different than the previous one.
In 2023 Thomas missed the FedEx Cup play-offs and had to sweat a waiting time before he was informed by Captain Zach Johnson that he went to Rome as a member of the Ryder Cup team. While this year Thomas still has to rely on the choice of a captain – this time from Keegan Bradley – he is in a much better place after he has found his way out of the wilderness and back up.
“I knew I was very lucky,” Thomas said on Sunday about his waiting time of 2023. “I needed much more than I would do now, I would say. I feel much better about my chances, I would hope. It feels like it before, and I am happy it does that.”
Bradley will make the picks of his captain on Wednesday, and Thomas will be overtaken for the next 24 to 48 hours that he will be part of the Bethpage Black team in September, given a current form that included a victory over the RBC heritage.
“It’s just different,” said Thomas, comparing these waiting with the painful piece in 2023. “Of course, ending, I think it was, seventh or eighth or something in points, and the feeling that I did well in team events in the past, but everything can clearly happen, but I feel pretty good.”
Tour Confidential: Who has to select Keegan Bradley with Ryder Cup Captain’s Picks?
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The 2025 Ryder Cup was called up during this entire golf season. Each tournament contained questions about rankings, potential teammates, the course, etc. Those questions are only intensified as the summer drank.
Last week the six automatic qualifications of Team USA were locked up, with Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Harris English, Russell Henley, JJ Spaun and Bryson Dephambeau deserve places. That leaves six places for Bradley to fill, with the possibility that he uses one selection of himself that hangs over his selections on Wednesday.
Thomas is a top candidate and is almost certainly a lock to make the team. The picks of the other potential captain are confronted with a nerve -racking two days before they get the call with a thumb up or thumb down from Bradley.
“It was absolutely in mind,” Collin Morikawa said to East Lake after completing T19. “It’s hard to put it aside. I didn’t play great, but I think I am a big asset to that team. Hopefully I get a positive phone call from Keegan. Look, at the end of the day he will do what is best for the team, and we will see how that plays.
Ben Griffin has had a career year, including a victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge and Zurich Classic Team event. Griffin finished ninth on the American point list and is hopeful that he will make his Ryder Cup debut next month, but knows that things might not go his way. The only way to ensure that you are in the team is to finish in the top six.
“I feel that every day I get the questions about the Ryder Cup,” said Griffin on Sunday. “It has definitely been an extra pressure for me, and it is something I think more about than it should be.
“It will be a fearful 24 to 48 hours. I would not say stressful because I feel that I am too blessed to be stressed. But certainly anxious to see if I have earned a place in that team or not, or that Keegan believes in me. I know that I can treat some big moments.
Keegan Bradley makes Birdie at number 18 on Tour Championship
Cameron Young was the top player on the points list in 2023 who had left the team that Zach Johnson led to Rome. It is a snub that Young has fueled, who played his best wave in the past month, including his first career victory at the Wyndham championship.
The resident of New York, who won the New York State 2017 open at Bethpage Black, is adamant to have done enough to earn a place this time.
“Anyway, of course I really want to make that team really,” Young said after a T4 finish to East Lake. “If that call goes in the wrong direction, it will be a bit of a difficult one in my opinion. I feel that I have done everything you could ask of me to make that team in the past four weeks, and if you look back, really half a season.”
Just like Young, Sam Burns will be on Sweat Waak for the next two days while Bradley makes his decision. But Burns, who was a star in the victory of Team USA’s Presidents Cup at the internationals last year, but went 1-2-0 in Rome, is comfortable with which decision will be made.
“It will be a long 24 hours or 48 hours,” Burns said. ‘[I have] 100 percent faith in Keegan. I know that every decision he makes is one that he thinks is the best for the team. In the end I am the USA team. When I’m in the team, great. I would not love anything anymore. If I am not, I will root for them. ”
Adding to the intrigues is that Bradley played his way in the discussion to be the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Bradley won the Travelers Championship and this year has been one of the 12 best Americans. It is a difficult decision – one that will shape how the choice of his captain takes place and UltimatelY decide who comes home left. It is a dilemma that has weighed on Bradley as the year progresses, and one that he is happy is almost over – even if he still does not have the clarity he is looking for.
“I think, regardless of what decision I make here, I could go the other way, anyway,” said Bradley on Sunday. “The only thing I care about is on Sunday of the Ryder Cup, that we win the Ryder Cup. Then I will know that I have made the right decision. Until then I will not know. It will be pretty wild. Whatever decision we will make, we will have to live with it. I love the boys in our team. They all play great. It’s great.”
A painful of 24 to 48 hours weaves for Bradley. Then it’s time to finally bring all the conversation to bed.
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