At the Valspar Championship, Justin Thomas took one stroke too many, missing out on a playoff and a chance to stop his year-long winless streak.
The 14-time Tour champion, who shot 70 on Sunday after three consecutive 66s, can surely point to several holes during the week where things could have gone better. Thomas noted he missed seven putts in Round 1 that “easily might have gone.” And if one — or two — of those had fallen, he might have won for the first time since the Players Championship last year.
Thomas, on the other hand, was still in contention after 72 holes at Innisbrook. Sunday, on the other hand, did not go as Thomas had intended, and one bogey stands out like a sore thumb. He made bogey on the par-5 11th, which he had birdied in each of the prior three rounds, after his tee shot fell in the right rough.
After finishing T-3, Thomas commented, “I didn’t make enough birdies.” “Today I didn’t hit the ball as well as I had hoped. I’ve had a few of nasty breaks, which is unfortunate. I set up that ball nicely on 11 and it went right into a hole at the end of the fairway. I’m generally licking my chops on that one, tossing it off the green.Then it was just a matter of trying to figure out how to get to the green.”
Thomas’ bogey on the back nine was his first of the week. After four birdies in Round 3, five in Round 2, and three in Round 1 with an eagle, he only had two on Sunday.
He required a birdie on the 72nd hole of the tournament to force a playoff with fellow Alabama Crimson Tide Davis Riley and eventual winner Sam Burns. Thomas came within 5 feet of holing his 88-yard approach, but the ball landed just 5 feet left of the cup.
He said, “I didn’t really accomplish much today and I could have easily won the tournament.” “I mean, good drive on 18, and I’ve got a wedge in there, so I could easily be in this playoff.”
“But there’s a lot to build on, and we’ve got a big stretch coming up, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Thomas remarked before the competition that being ranked No. 8 in the world “pisses” him off. He’ll move up one spot with the T-3 finish. With major championship season just around the corner, he thinks the wait will be worth it.
“I mean, it’s coming; all I have to do now is wait and be in the correct frame of mind because nothing in this game can be forced,” he remarked. “You go into some rabbit holes as soon as I start doing it. I’m doing a lot of things that are really, very excellent. All I have to do now is keep putting myself there, and it will begin to happen.”
