(Guidonia Montecelio) Justin Thomas is too focused on what he must do to help the American team end its three-decade drought without a Ryder Cup victory on European soil to worry about the critics who question his presence at the competition.
Team USA captain Zach Johnson never hesitated to use one of his six discretionary picks to retain the services of Thomas, who is having such a difficult streak that he was excluded from the PGA Tour playoffs for the first time in his career.
Same story among his six teammates or vice-captains who had a say in the decision. Thomas has been a spark plug in each of his two Ryder Cup appearances, and he has compiled a 6-2-1 record in France and Wisconsin.
To everyone else, Thomas said he had a short memory and forgot easily.
“I obviously don’t harbor any hard feelings,” he said Tuesday. I feel like there’s no point in paying attention to it. When it comes to things that are said on social media, everyone has their own opinion, and theirs is right and everyone else’s is wrong… The only thing that mattered to me is that Zach, his vice-presidents captains and the other six guys on the team want me there.
“And now that I’m here, we’re all on the same page,” he continued. We are one, and our mandate is to attack the field and collect points to win. »
This task seemed much easier last time at Whistling Straits, in front of the stands and an aging European team.
The current European team is led by some very experienced golfers — Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, new FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland and a group of players who joined the LIV Tour but have already had their day of glory.
It was the first full day of practice rounds on Tuesday; the Americans negotiated the back nine of the Marco Simone course while the Europeans contested the front nine. Both groups faced a series of hills and valleys which, in unusually oppressive heat for the time of year, made the exercise particularly difficult.
The groups for the first session on the program will not be announced before the opening ceremony of the competition on Thursday afternoon, although often the groups which walk the course during the training rounds allow conclusions to be drawn. On Tuesday there was a Scandinavian duo of Hovland and Swede Ludvig Aberg, and another of English U.S. Open champions — Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick.
European team captain Luke Donald, however, warned that conclusions should not be drawn too hastily. Those who started in the morning, he recalled, had an appointment with members of the media a little later in the day.
