Justin Thomas cannot shake off his bad mojo.
Justin Thomas’ free fall continues, misses cut at The Memorial Tournament
Thomas has yet to win on the PGA Tour this season. The 2022 PGA Champion has struggled to gain any momentum, and that will not change at Jack’s Place.
Joseph Scheller/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
He has yet to win during the 2022-23 PGA Tour season and has posted only two top-10’s. His victory drought extends back to the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, where he defeated Will Zalatoris in a playoff to claim his second Wanamaker Trophy.
His funk has continued at the Memorial Tournament, where he opened with a 3-over par 75. He did not do much better the next day, as he shot another 3-over par 75 to miss the cut.
Thomas’ poor showing in Ohio marks the second time he has missed the cut this season, with the other instance occurring at Augusta National.
He bogeyed three of his final four holes at the Masters to miss out on the weekend there for the first time in his career.
He also tied for 65th at the PGA Championship in May and 60th at The Players Championship in March.
Since The Players, Thomas has been in the top 20 only twice: at the Valspar Championship, where he tied for 10th, and the Wells Fargo Championship, where he finished tied for 14th.
Thomas’ struggles have stemmed from his inability to find fairways. He ranks 127th on tour in driving accuracy and 52nd in strokes-gained: off the tee.
Thomas should be driving the ball better for a player of his caliber. Yet, he has failed to do so, which has left him in tough spots.
Take his second round at the Memorial, for example.
Knowing he had to shoot a low number to make the weekend, Thomas opened with back-to-back bogies at the 10th and 11th holes—he started his second round on the back nine.
At 10, Thomas found the fairway bunker left of the fairway off the tee. He hit his second to a greenside bunker, failing to get it out of there safely, which led to a bogey five.
On the next hole, Thomas again found a fairway bunker with his tee shot, but this time, it was located right of the fairway. His second shot from the trap found the creek that snakes through the 11th hole and ultimately dropped another shot.
Just two holes in, Thomas had made things much tougher on himself.
Later, he battled back with two birdies at 15 and 16 but gave those right back with a double-bogey at 18, starting with another missed fairway.
In order for Thomas to get back in the winner’s circle, it all starts with finding the fairway. If he cannot get into a better position more often, his bad mojo will continue to linger.
