“I try to find any excuse I can to contact my ex-girlfriend. That’s pretty much how I feel about Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson.”

Justin Thomas (30, USA), who joined the Ryder Cup on the recommendation of U.S. team captain Johnson, has been in the news for his honesty about waiting for a captain’s recommendation and comparing it to an “ex-girlfriend.

The former world No. 1, who has 15 career victories on the U.S. Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour, remembers the 2022-23 season as one of his worst. After winning a major, the PGA Championship in May 2022, he went winless and finished 71st in the FedExCup with just three top-10 finishes in 20 events. One spot short of the 70th place cutoff for the playoffs, Thomas had to taste the bitterness of missing the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

As his teammates battled for three weeks for the $18 million FedExCup winner’s bonus, Thomas watched them play on TV from his home in Florida.

After three grueling weeks of waiting, Thomas was named a Ryder Cup member by Johnson on March 30.

The United States and Europe each send 12 players to the Ryder Cup. Six are selected through selection points awarded by each tournament and the remaining six are at the discretion of the captain. For the United States, Scott Schauffler, Wyndham Clarke, Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay, Max Horma and Xander Schauffele were named to the team based on points earned through performance, while Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Colin Morikawa and Sam Burns were selected as captain’s picks.

This will be the third consecutive Ryder Cup for Thomas, who finished 15th in the Order of Merit.

After missing the playoffs and not playing for nearly five weeks, Thomas played in the Fortinet Championship ($8.4 million purse) on the U.S. Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour’s Fall Series at Silverado Resort in Napa, California, on Sept. 15 to get some practice in ahead of the Ryder Cup.

Speaking to local media a day ahead of the tournament, Thomas was asked to describe what it’s like to wait in the hopes of being selected for the Ryder Cup, and he quickly compared it to wanting to contact an ex-girlfriend.

“It was a brutal feeling. “It was a cruel feeling,” he says, adding that while he understood that nothing would happen if he reached out to her, it was harder to do nothing.먹튀검증

“When I got the call from Johnson, I had a lot of emotions. Relief was the first. I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights and I’m relieved and happy to be able to play in the Ryder Cup.”

Thomas shot a 3-under 69 in the first round of the Fortinet Championship on Friday and is tied for 20th place.

The Ryder Cup, a men’s golf competition between the United States and Europe, will be held at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy, beginning Sept. 29.