Say hello to the man who will be PGA Tour Player Of The Year for 2017.
Say hello to the man who will be the PGA Of America’s Player Of The Year for 2017.
Say hello to the 2017 FedEx Cup champion.
Howdy Justin Thomas, well done young man!
The dream season of Justin Thomas continued on Sunday outside Atlanta at East Lake. He fought hard the entire final round and came within a single birdie of sending the Tour Championship into a playoff.
No, he didn’t win the tournament, but he won the Big Tamale, The Grand Prize, the 10 million smackeroos that go to the FedEx Cup winner for 2017.
In the process, he wrapped up the two Player Of The Year awards that will be forthcoming.
“I almost didn’t know how to feel,” said Thomas after rookie Xander Schauffele beat him by a shot for the Tour Championship. “I felt disappointment then I realized I was the FedEx Cup winner.”
He was disappointed at first because he came to the reachable par five 18th where he had gone birdie-eagle-birdie in his three previous rounds. He was undone on the 72nd hole by a drive that settled deep into the left rough then a disappointing layup and a third that left him with a 23-footer for birdie to post 12-under, the eventual winning score. He damn near made the big breaking putt.
You know life is good when you have to “settle” for a $10 million payout and the FedEx Trophy.
“The progression he’s made to become a closer has been phenomenal to watch,” said Thomas’ close buddy Jordan Spieth, who finished in a tie for seventh Sunday and wound up runner-up to J.T. in the FedEx Cup race.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan called it “A life-changing year” for Thomas.
Thomas won five times, including his first major at the PGA.
“I put in a lot of hard work,” Thomas pointed out. “My short game helped me out a lot and that’s where I spent a lot of time.”
Going into the final 18, if you had to pick one of the top five to win it all, J.T. was there, he was the guy, the right guy to take it all.
Spieth’s putter picked the wrong week to go cold. That helped open the door for Thomas to overtake him for the big trophy.
Thomas played solid all day and posted the day’s second-best effort with his 66.
It was good enough to him to jump past the faltering lead group of Paul Casey and Kevin Kisner.
Thomas wrapped up the FedEx Cup with back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th holes. He drained one from 11-feet at 16 then his a magnificent tee shot to within six-feet at the par three 17th.
By then, both Kisner and Casey hit their tee shots into the water at the par three 15th and that was the end of them and the $10 million door was open for Justin Thomas.
He walked right through it and nearly won two of the four playoff events.
At day’s end, he left no doubt who was the best player on the PGA Tour this year.
No doubt at all.
