2020 Tour Championship: Top 10 power rankings at East Lake

Justin Thomas couldn’t get it done starting in the driver’s seat at the 2019 Tour Championship. Will being the chaser instead of the chased be more suitable?

I think it might.

Thomas is so close to winning at East Lake. He’s qualified for the Tour Championship every year since 2016. He’s finished T-6th, 2nd, T-7th, and T-3rd (T-9th gross) in that span.

He’s been a bit hot and cold this summer. His highs are a win at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude, a playoff loss at the Workday Charity Open, and top-10s at Colonial and Harbour Town. The lows are a missed cut and, recently, three straight finishes of 25th or worse.

He’s not totally lost it, but usually, he only heats up instead of cools down come playoff time. We’ve seen it with a win at the 2019 BMW Championship and 2017 Dell Technologies Championship.

Thomas is a good course fit for East Lake if he’s driving it well. The former Alabama Crimson Tide ranks 25th in SG off the tee (.395 per round).

What makes him great is his ability to score from anywhere on the course. Thomas is first in SG approach (1.005). It seems like he hits it inside 25 feet on every hole.

He should have the control to leave the ball where he needs to on the greens.

“That’s the thing about this place,” Thomas was quoted by ASAP Sports in 2018, “the greens are so good, if you’re under the hole or you leave them in the right spot, you can make some long-range putts.”