FedEx Cup Update: Jordan Spieth leads after The Open Championship

Justin Thomas is our first player in the top-ten to have been directly unseated by Jordan Spieth this week, but that’s far from the whole story. Thomas was one of the hottest players in all of golf early this year, when he won three tournaments by the middle of January. You couldn’t have asked for a better start.

Of course, that type of run was never going to be sustainable. Thomas defended his title at the CIMB Classic in October of 2016, then took the double play in Hawaii in January. The Tournament of Champions was a limited-field event, sure, but simply winning that much and that often had to come to an end at some point.

To his credit, Thomas has done a fine job for the vast majority of this season. It would have been easy for him to fall back, say he was tired, and allow people like me to put the blame on stronger fields as the season wore on. However, he’s continued to compete, and more often than not, the results have been solid, if not spectacular.

His Saturday 63 at Erin Hills got Thomas into contention at the U.S. Open, but the weeks since have seen the world’s No. 14 player stall out a bit. He’s missed three consecutive cuts at the Travelers Championship, Quicken Loans National, and most recently at The Open. He may have won the best-dressed award, but unfortunately that doesn’t move playoff positioning.

Thomas will look to get some of his rhythm back entering the playoffs, but his place has been basically locked up for months now.