2020 Masters: Top 10 power rankings at Augusta National
The plus side to Justin Thomas’ Masters resume is he played the weekend in all four appearances, finishing in the top 40 each time.
The negative is he hasn’t contended late on a Sunday at Augusta National, let alone carve out a top-10.
He’s moved up the leaderboard each time out. JT’s debut ended in T-39th (76-73-78-71) in 2016, then T-22nd (73-76-71-70), T-17th (74-67-70-73) and T-12th (73-68-69-70). Despite having 11 guys finish ahead of him, the Kentucky native was still just five off the winning pace last year.
Thomas has fought an uphill battle each time out. His first round scoring average at the Masters is 74. Meanwhile, six of his eight rounds on weekends are under par and one other was a 73.
The 27 year old is a fiery competitor and perhaps is just a little too amped up to begin. He doesn’t have the pressure of going for his first major since he won the 2017 PGA Championship, but Augusta National can heighten the nerves of any player regardless of stature.
Thomas has mentioned a lack of fans has made it tough on him, but I think it could play to his advantage at this tournament.
The former Alabama Crimson Tide standout enters in good form. Some final rounds could’ve gone better for Thomas, but his last four starts still read T-3rd, T-8th (U.S. Open), T-12th and T-2nd.
The last start was a few weeks back ago on Sunday where he played well enough to win. Patrick Cantlay was just a little bit better.
Thomas is making his 21st major start, all coming as a pro. He missed his first cut at the 2014 U.S. Open but has made 17 of the next 20. He surprisingly has no other top-fives besides his win, though he has three top-10s and six more top-25s.
“I’ve had a hard time at this event every year because I love this golf course so much and I feel like it fits my game so well,” Thomas was transcribed by ASAP Sports before the 2019 Masters. “I’ve always prepared so hard and well for it; that when I get here, I really feel like I should have a great chance to win and I think that gets in my own way sometimes, or at least it has the past couple years, I would say I learned‑‑ well, I guess I’ll let you know on Sunday‑‑ but I learned from it just as I took a little different approach this year in terms of not wearing myself out at home.”
I predict JT will yet again improve at the 2020 Masters, only to come up just a bit short.