Alex Noren bogeyed his final three holes to finish tied for ninth and do Justin Thomas a huge favor, gifting Thomas an invitation to next week’s Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.
When Nolen stood on the par-3 16th tee, he was tied for fourth and expected to finish inside the top 30. FedEx Cup StandingsOnly the top 30 advance to East Lake, and with scoreboards set up all over the place, Noren knew what the stakes were: Anyone who advances to the Tour Championship gets an invite to Augusta National and the U.S. Open the following year.
However, a poor final performance by the Swede dropped him out of the top 30, allowing Thomas to move up the rankings and enter the Tour Championship.
“It was really hard. It was difficult,” Nolen admitted.
“I didn’t hit the shots I needed to. It’s hard when the ball is that hard. The greens are hard, the fairways are hard. I need to get a little better.”
Thomas, meanwhile, finished tied for 39th. He struggled through the first three days at Castle Pines, shooting 76-72-74 on the par-72 course, but a 4-under 68 on Sunday was enough to ultimately put him in good shape.
“Unless I finish 10 or 11 under today, unfortunately my fate is probably more in other people’s hands than my own,” Thomas said after the round.
“I feel like I’ve done my part to some extent. Hopefully it goes well.”
Things have gone well for Thomas, who will be returning to East Lake for the first time since 2022. He has had great success on the Donald Ross layout, although Andrew Green stepped up to revitalize the course for this year’s tournament. Still, Thomas has played in the Tour Championship seven times, finishing inside the top 10 every time. He’s also been runner-up twice, in 2017 and 2020.
But under starting stroke rules, Thomas, ranked 30th in the world, will start the championship at even par. Scottie Scheffler, who leads the FedEx Cup standings, will start at 10 under and Xander Schauffele, who is second, will start at 8 under. That means Thomas will be 10 strokes behind before the ball is even in the air. But it’s better than never going to East Lake.
“We’ve got to play well,” Thomas added.
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“I feel like I’ve been consistent enough this season to play in Atlanta, but I haven’t played well in the playoffs, and that’s when I’ve got to play well.”
But the funny thing is, Thomas didn’t stay in Castle Pines to see the finish line. He knew his fate was in other people’s hands, so he wasn’t stressing about whether he’d make it to Atlanta.
“I don’t want to have to sit here and stress about it all afternoon. I hate that, but that’s the position I’ve put myself in,” Thomas said.
“I’m just happy to be home for a few nights and then hopefully head down to Atlanta on Tuesday.”
Indeed, thanks to Nolen’s stumble, Thomas will head to the Peach State early Tuesday morning. But the question now is whether Thomas can take full advantage of this opportunity and overcome the odds of winning the FedEx Cup. Probably not. But his chances of making it to East Lake were slim to begin with. And if anything’s true in golf, it’s that anything is possible.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
