Justin Thomas hoping to ‘finish’ off better at 2025 Masters Tournament following COLLAPSE in Valspar Championship

Justin Thomas blew away a 3 shot lead in the final stretch of the Valspar Championship which saw another event slip away from his hands.

Justin Thomas hoping to ‘finish’ off better at 2025 Masters Tournament following COLLAPSE in Valspar Championship

Justin Thomas (Image via Imago)

It was another story of “so close yet so far” for Justin Thomas at the Valspar Championship. On Sunday, the former World No.1 suffered a dramatic collapse in the last stretch which saw his hands slip off another championship title.

After shooting scores of 73 and 70 in the first two rounds, Thomas found himself in contention for the title with a score of 65 in the third round. In the final round, he led Viktor Hovland by 3 shots at one stage.

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The 2-time major champion has been in search of a victory since winning the PGA Championship in 2022. On many occasions, he has come close to ending this drought but has suffered some heartbreaking moments.

During the final round on Sunday, he got bitten by the “Snake Pit” – the closing stretch of Holes 16, 17, and 18 at the Innisbrook Resort. He bogeyed two of these holes and made par on the other hole. These two bogeys from him opened up the door for Hovland.

The Norwegian golfer made back-to-back birdies on the 16th and 17th holes before making a bogey on the final hole as well. This saw him finish 1-shot ahead of Thomas and ended his 19-month winless run by claiming the Valspar Championship.

In the press conference, Thomas did not seem to have any regrets about this. He expressed optimism in his game and hoped to “finish off better” at the Augusta National during the upcoming Masters Tournament and end his title drought.

I’m very, very proud of myself. It sucks not winning when you’re that close and have a great chance but I just hopefully put myself in the same position in two weeks at Augusta and finish it off better.

Justin Thomas said

Justin Thomas climbs up in the top 10 PGA Tour career-earning standings following runner-up finish at the Valspar Championship

In the search for his first win, Justin Thomas gave it all he had. However, it was not enough as he agonizingly missed out on another title. The runner-up finish though saw climb up in the top 10 of the PGA Tour career-earning standings.

Justin Thomas
Justin Thomas (Image via Imago)

Unlike the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship, the Valspar Championship has a small purse. This week some top golfers competed in a $8.7 million purse after battling it out on events that a purse pool of $20 and $25 million.

Thomas’ runner-up finish got him the second biggest share of this purse. While Viktor Hovland walked away with $1.56 million, Thomas earned $948,000 for his efforts.

This saw the 31-year-old overtake Jason Day in the top 10 standings for career earnings on the PGA Tour. He has now made $62,924,964 while playing on the Tour and now ranks 9th. This list though only includes current PGA Tour members so the names of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson have been removed from these standings.

Can Justin Thomas win the Masters Tournament?

The one event every golfer dreams about playing and winning is the Masters Tournament at the Augusta National. While Thomas has already played here before, he has never won this event. His best finish in this tournament came back in 2020 when he finished 4th. Given his current performances, there are some wondering whether he could actually win the tournament?

Justin Thomas
Justin Thomas (Image via Imago)

After a down year in 2023, Thomas did bounce back a little in the 2024 campaign. He started the year with a T3 finish at The American Express and ended the campaign with a T2 finish at the Zozo Championship.

He also finished 3 in the Hero World Challenge, an unofficial event hosted by Tiger Woods. Thomas started off this season with another close finish at the American Express, finishing T2 behind Seep Straka.

The runner-up finish at the Valspar Championship is his second runner-up finish this year. As per the PGA Tour Communications, this is also his third runner-up finish in his last nine starts. He also finished T6 and T9 at the WM Phoenix Open and the Genesis Invitational respectively.

Thomas is not exactly struggling like he did in 2023 as he has made cuts in every event played so far. To win the Masters Tournament though, he will need to be consistent. If he keeps on playing with consistency and is able to shoot low scores, he could walk away with the green jacket in the upcoming month.