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Justin Thomas is back at the Presidents Cup after missing the American team two years ago.
Team USA didn’t feel the same without Thomas wearing the stars and stripes in Montreal in 2024, but the two-time PGA Championship winner has rediscovered his form and is back as an integral part of the team.
It was difficult for Thomas to watch the Presidents Cup at home, but now he’s returned to the event with a newfound appreciation for the greats of the game and what they’re able to achieve every year.
Justin Thomas explains his newfound appreciation for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy
Thomas was winless in two seasons by the time the 2024 Presidents Cup rolled around. There wasn’t much argument that he was worthy of making the team. Since then he’s returned to the winner’s circle, but his dip in form made him appreciate the likes of Tiger Woods for their consistency.
When asked how his appreciation for events like the Presidents Cup has changed since not making the team two years ago, Thomas said, “I gave Jim [Furyk] a hard time plenty about it. I’m like, there’s nothing personal.
“I told Keegan [Bradley] 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.
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“I firmly do believe that, and I think 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.”
Fair play to Thomas for earning his way back onto the team after being left off two seasons ago, and maintaining the right attitude through it all.
How Justin Thomas used the Presidents Cup to get to Phil Mickelson
Team golf adds a totally different aspect to the game. In such an individual sport, it’s a rare opportunity for the players to come together for the same cause, and Thomas took full advantage of that over the years.
He explained, “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.”
Now Thomas is fulfilling that role for the likes of Jackson Koivun on this team, which is his true value in 2026. He’s played well enough golf to make the team, but his leadership and experience are now his best traits.
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