Justin Thomas won a Major, shot 59 then 63 in a Major and won the FedExCup – making him comfortably the best player on the planet in 2017, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
No longer the ‘other guy’ with Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler in the friendship group, JT burst into life in 2017 and never stopped winning.
A win at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia in October 2016 set him up for back to back wins at the start of 2017 in Hawaii where he won the Sentry Tournament of Champions before claiming the Sony Open – which of course included his opening round 59 (he is the youngest player to break 60) – in wire-to-wire fashion.
In August, Thomas got over his US Open heartbreak by winning the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. In June, he shot 63 in the third round at Erin Hills, which then tied the lowest score in relation to par in Major history, but a final round 75 saw him limp home and finish T9.
Quail Hollow was a different story. Thomas rode his luck early in his round before a long range sand save on 16 and a birdie on 17 saw him cruise to his first Major championship. He wasn’t done there as he went on to win the Dell Technologies Championship and finish second at the Tour Championship to claim the FedExCup bonus prize.
Five wins including a Major and the $10-million FedExCup prize easily made Thomas the world’s best player in 2017. Thomas has already gotten his 2017-18 season off to a winning start after topping the pile at the CJ Cup in South Korea.
The contenders:
Sergio Garcia
The Spaniard finally won a Major and you could also say, he finally held his nerve as he outduelled Justin Rose at Augusta to win The Masters in a thrilling finale. Garcia rolled in his birdie putt on the first playoff hole to pass on the tag of ‘the world’s best player without a Major’.
Jordan Spieth
He too was involved on the right side of a thrilling Sunday finish in a Major as Spieth recovered from a slow start and his famous driving range penalty drop to roar home and claim The Open at Royal Birkdale from Matt Kuchar.
That win puts him in line for a crack at the career grandslam at the PGA Championship at the Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. Spieth, who lost to Dustin Johnson at the Northern Trust, also won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am and the Travelers Championship (with a spectacular hole out from the sand to beat Daniel Berger.)
Justin Rose
A season that might’ve been but wasn’t could sum up Rose’s year. He held a two shot advantage over Garcia late on Sunday at The Masters but crumbled and never looked the same.
Who knew that a missed cut at the PGA Championship would be the tonic he needed to rediscover his best form. Since then, he has won three times including a late dash at the European Tour’s Race to Dubai where he won WGC-HSBC Champions in China before winning the Turkish Airlines Open the following week.
He had the DP World Tour Championship in his grasp but a poor back nine saw him finish T4 and second to Tommy Fleetwood. A late win followed as he blasted the field at the Indonesian Masters to wrap up a run of 10 events which saw 3 wins and 7 top 10 finishes which make him one to watch in 2018.
Dustin Johnson
There is one reason why players like Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm and Hideki Matsuyama have not been able to summit the world rankings this year.
That reason is DJ.
Third going into the Genesis Open, the big-hitting American won there to start a run that has seen him build a commanding lead at the top of the official rankings. Two more wins followed in succession (WGC – Mexico Championship and the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play) before he suffered a bizarre injury on the eve of The Masters.
That slip cost him a strong run at the Green Jacket and he took a bit of time to return to his best. He missed the cut at the US Open and wasn’t in the picture at The Open but bounced back to win at The Northern Trust and finished T2 at the WGC-Champions shooting 77 in the final round to let Rose in.
