2021 Tour Championship: Top 10 power rankings at East Lake
Justin Thomas will likely tell you this season didn’t go according to plan. Sure, he picked up an illustrious win at the Players Championship, but performance in the majors and other big events lacked luster.
JT can salvage some of these lost opportunities by surging up the leaderboard at the Tour Championship.
The former world No. 1 knows how to post low scores at East Lake. It’s the sight of his 2017 FedEx Cup title that was wrapped up by a solo second finish at the Tour Championship.
Thomas was the guinea pig when the Tour Championship changed formats in 2019, having to sit on his two-shot lead for four days before opening the tournament.
Thomas was open to the media about being conflicted on how to handle that unique situation. His discomfort led to him posting a gross score that would have tied for ninth and ultimately placed him third in the FedEx Cup race.
The former Alabama Crimson Tide standout got to play the role of chaser in 2020. Thomas started out in third place three shots back of Dustin Johnson, who went on to win.
Thomas logged 66-71-66-66 to finish T-2nd and T-3rd for gross scores.
Thomas is an aggressive player. He may have a psychological boost from needing to fire away starting six shots back of leader Patrick Cantlay on Thursday.
The 28-year-old is 12th on the PGA Tour in birdie average (4.29) and gives himself tons of good looks set up by his iron play. Thomas is third in strokes gained approach (.888).
Thomas posted top-25s in both FedEx Cup Playoffs events, including T-4th at The Northern Trust.
A balky putter has kept Thomas from the winner’s circle more often in 2020-21. He should find some comfort on East Lake’s Bermuda greens common in the southeast U.S.
“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.”