2021 PGA Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Kiawah Island

Justin Thomas didn’t compete in the 2012 PGA Championship, but the signs were there at that point that he was a special talent. He was a collegiate star at Alabama who had already made a cut at a PGA Tour event a few years prior when he was 16.

Just five years after the PGA Championship came to Kiawah Island, JT won it at Quail Hollow across the border in Charlotte. It still stands as his lone major championship, but it might not be for long.

He’s been a consistent top-five player in the world for nearly half a decade. Fourteen PGA Tour wins will do that for you.

Thomas’ second biggest win of his career came this year at the Players Championship, another Pete Dye course. Thomas comes to the Ocean course with three top-30 finishes in a row and five made cuts in the last six chances.

The 28-year-old has made five cuts in a row at the majors, finishing T-37th or better each time with two top-10s. For his career, he’s 17-for-21 in cuts made at the majors and 5-for-5 at the PGA Championship.

The PGA Championship seems to be the best major championship for him. It usually presents a tough enough test for talent to separate, though it requires some aggression and birdie making common in Thomas’ winning formula.

The Kentuckian has been sterling with his irons this season like usual. He ranks second on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approach (1.123). Mix in that he’s 10th in SG around the green (.417) and that’s a tough combo.

It’ll boil down to the driver and putter. Thomas has been a bit wayward at times off the tee, and can’t afford to club down too often around here. He’s also had his ups and downs with the putter, but perhaps a less common surface like paspalum will be a neutralizer.

Thomas has been a bit under the radar the last couple months. Expect him to ramp back up for a key stretch of golf this summer.