Justin Thomas the man to beat after cruising to Firestone victory

Justin Thomas cruised to victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday at Firestone. Here’s why his slump-busting win came at just the right time.

Justin Thomas is one of the best golfers on the face of the planet. That fact hasn’t been up for debate for some time now, but he’s not ignorant of the recent dip in his results, and the constant effort to live up to insanely high expectations.

“It’s been hard, too,” Thomas said. “I mean, it feels like I haven’t won in forever.”

Forever might be a bit of a stretch, but considering Thomas’s talent, it had been a while. The key word in that sentence, of course, is “had”. Thomas held onto his four-shot lead at Firestone, cruising to victory at the final installment of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

It was the third win of the 2017-18 PGA TOUR season for the reigning FedEx Cup champion, and his first World Golf Championship. Of course, it was also his first victory since the Honda Classic, all the way back in February.

Don’t get it wrong – the majority of players out there would kill to have that kind of “slump”. But as we all saw last year, Thomas is the kind of guy who sets some very clear goals, and fights every step of the way to reach them.

Last year, his goals included things like “TOUR Championship” and “win at least once”. Check and check for 2018. A couple more repeats likely on this year’s list are “final two pairings on Sunday in a major” and “win a major”. Which brings us to this week.

Thomas accomplished both of those goals last year at Quail Hollow in the 99th PGA Championship. It was a remarkable week, as went from six shots back after the first round to a two-stroke victory over Francesco Molinari, Patrick Reed and Louis Oosthuizen.

How does that connect to his victory march at Firestone on Sunday? In many ways, his form is mirroring last year. In others, it’s significantly better.

Like this season, Thomas had three victories before the PGA Championship in 2017. However, those three came before the Super Bowl had even been played, as he took the CIMB Classic in October 2016, then went back-to-back in Hawaii in January. After the U.S. Open, Thomas missed three consecutive cuts before heading to Firestone.

This year, the wins are a little more spread out, and his overall performance has actually improved. He’s hitting a handful more fairways, he’s still well within the top five on TOUR in adjusted scoring average, and his scrambling percentage has improved as well. That adds up to just two missed cuts, and a much steadier, more reliable game.

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While Thomas’s highs haven’t been quite as meteoric in 2018 as they were a year ago, he’s back in winning form, and that makes him one of the most dangerous players over the final weeks of the season.

Bellerive will present its share of challenges, of course. It’s a track that places a premium on playing from the short grass, a classic Robert Trent Jones “hard par, easy bogey” layout. However, as Thomas grows into his game, he’s likely going to just get more difficult to beat.

"“I think what he learned is that he has to play his game and not force it,” said Thomas’ caddie, Jimmy Johnson, after the victory at Firestone. “Let the course come to him, and play a little smarter. He was trying too hard, maybe. I don’t think he was so much frustrated as he was trying too hard. He’s just letting his potential go through now.”"

That’s a scary thought. Thomas is ranked No. 2 in the world right now, and he’s been trying too hard? This is a guy who thrives on pressure and openly wants to be in the spotlight on Sunday afternoons. He doesn’t want to come from behind – he wants to take a lead late and step on people’s throats.

He did just that at Firestone on Sunday, watching as former No. 1’s like Rory McIlroy and Jason Day fell out of contention behind him. He celebrated his first WGC with his grandparents in attendance for the first time in his career, making it all the more special.

Justin Thomas is playing his best golf at the right time, with six weeks of big-time golf ahead of him. If he can put himself into a similar position at this time next week, don’t be surprised to see a second major checked off of 2018’s list of goals.