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Justin Thomas Misses FedEx Cup Playoffs in Painful Fashion After Chaotic Final Hole

After a grueling last-minute chase at the Wyndham Championship, Thomas will come up just one spot shy of the PGA Tour postseason.

Gabrielle Herzig

Justin Thomas Misses FedEx Cup Playoffs in Painful Fashion After Chaotic Final Hole
Justin Thomas Misses FedEx Cup Playoffs in Painful Fashion After Chaotic Final Hole /

Justin Thomas’s pursuit of a spot in the FedEx Cup top 70 came down to his very last swings on Sunday at the Wyndham Championship, but ultimately the two-time major champion couldn’t get it done. 

Thomas, who missed five of eight cuts since this year’s PGA Championship, won’t make the playoffs and his U.S. Ryder Cup team hopes may be in jeopardy.

His 2022-23 PGA Tour season came to an end Sunday in Greensboro, N.C., as he finished the tournament ranked No. 71 in the standings—just eight points outside the playoff cutoff. 

Rookie Ben Griffin, who missed the cut at Sedgefield Country Club, grabbed the No. 70 spot and will make his first FedEx Cup playoffs appearance. 

Thomas came up short but gave the last-minute chase all of his energy. 

Needing to go low in his final four holes, Thomas holed a slippery eagle putt on the par-5 15th, a stroke that immediately bumped his name inside the cutoff in the standings. 

“I felt like if I could get it on the fall line, it was going to go in. These greens are so fast, it’s almost like they don’t stop until they run into something,” Thomas said. 

But the tides turned once again on 16, where Thomas’s 7-iron caught an unfortunately timed wind gust. His ball was knocked down, landing short of the putting surface, and he failed to get up and down for par. But the bogey didn’t immediately knock Thomas out of the top 70. 

After a par on the par-4 17th, however, the standings shifted as other players finished, and suddenly Thomas needed a birdie at the last to extend his season. 

A nasty pull off the tee didn’t set Thomas on the correct path for that result: he found himself on a side-hill lie in the pine straw. With a dramatic contortion of his entire body and a sweeping rope hook, however, Thomas somehow found the fairway short of the green. 

All Thomas needed to do was holeout from the short grass, and he nearly got it done. His chip hit the flagstick and ricocheted away from the cup. Thomas immediately came crashing down to the ground, knowing the near-miss could cost him—and it did indeed. 

“I’m kind of sore,” Thomas said to CBS’s Amanda Renner, before learning of his final standing at No. 71. “I don’t know if it’s from my second shot or falling on the ground.” 

“I hope that it all works out, because that’s going to haunt me a little bit if not,” Thomas said. 

Now that the playoff field is set, Thomas might find that final chip shot even more painful than he did in the moment on the 18th green.

After the conclusion of play, Thomas took to Twitter to share his Sunday battle on the course. 

"Can use adversity as an opportunity to shy away from a challenge, or take it head on. Was a tough season for me, but I actually had fun battling it out and playing golf this week. It’s why we play. Beyond gutted to miss the playoffs, but I’m proud of how hard I fought #onward,” Thomas wrote. 

Thomas isn’t the only PGA Tour star that will miss the postseason this year. Adam Scott, who was the early clubhouse leader on Thursday at the Wyndham, also barely missed the mark at No. 72 in the FedEx Cup standings. Scott’s T7 finish and tournament total of 12 under wasn’t enough. 

Billy Horschel, who sat tied for the 54-hole lead, couldn’t maintain his projected standing either. With a final round of 2-over 72, Horschel dropped to 90th and will miss the postseason. 

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Gabrielle Herzig
GABRIELLE HERZIG

Gabrielle Herzig is a Breaking and Trending News writer for Sports Illustrated Golf. Previously, she worked as a Golf Digest Contributing Editor, an NBC Sports Digital Editorial Intern, and a Production Runner for FOX Sports at the site of the 2018 U.S. Open. Gabrielle graduated as a Politics Major from Pomona College in Claremont, California, where she was a four-year member and senior-year captain of the Pomona-Pitzer women’s golf team. In her junior year, Gabrielle studied abroad in Scotland for three months, where she explored the Home of Golf by joining the Edinburgh University Golf Club.

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