The 2021 Major season: Winners and Losers
By Bill Felber
Justin Thomas
Thomas’ 2021 Major season was as full of promise, and therefore as disappointing, as any.
At age 28, Thomas began the year with a five-season peak score of -0.96, just outside the top 150. The 2021 season ought to have been a springboard. Instead it produced a missed cut at the PGA plus three finishes in the 20-40 range, no contending moments whatsoever and little ratings movement.
Thomas finishes 2021 with a peak score of -1.01, barely moved from where it started, and tied for just 141st on the peak chart.
His career score began at +4.36, putting Thomas 113th in that category. He was in a class with Lee Trevino (+4.38). But instead of advancing, Thomas went the other way. Thanks largely to that PGA missed cut, he ends 2021 with a career score of +7.01, having fallen four places to 117th. Instead of chasing Trevino, he will begin 2022 chasing 1928 U.S. Open champion Johnny Farrell.
If you are trying to enhance your standing among the all-time greats, losing ground to the 1928 U.S. Open champion Is not a productive plan.
Can Thomas make up ground, especially on the career chart? Of course he can. As recently as 2020, he improved his career score by more than two points, and did so in just three Majors.
But Thomas, like McIlroy and Johnson, is another of those guys who has a maddening tendency to randomly take a Major tournament off. Since 2017, he’s missed four cuts in Majors: the 2017 and 2018 British Opens, the 2019 U.S. Open and the 2021 PGA.
Perspective is in order. From the day he turned pro until the day he turned 50 – 111 Majors – Jack Nicklaus missed just eight cuts in Majors. That’s why Nicklaus is No. 1 on the all-time career performance list.
Justin Thomas has missed five cuts in 24 Major starts as a pro. That’s why he’s No. 118.