You Can't Argue With Zach Johnson's Explanation For Why He Picked Out-Of-Form Justin Thomas For U.S. Ryder Cup Team

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Justin Thomas is coming off of the most disappointing season of his professional career. He did nothing in 2023 to make Zach Johnson's decision to pick him for the Ryder Cup easy, in fact, he did the exact opposite, but thankfully for JT this year's U.S. team captain looked further down the résume and gave him a seat to Rome anyways.

Thomas was downright bad this past season. He managed just two Top 10 finishes in full-field events, missed the cut in three of the four major championships, and failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He also finished 144th in strokes gained: putting and 138th in driving accuracy, which are two concerning statistics to carry across the pond.

READ: ZACH JOHNSON IGNORES THE FAKE DRAMA, PICKS BROOKS KOEPKA FOR U.S. RYDER CUP TEAM

None of the abundance of bad seemed to matter for Johnson, however. Or maybe the better way to put it is that Thomas' track record when representing the red, white, and blue outshined his bad 2023 campaign.

“He has, without question, been the heart and soul of Team USA, Ryder Cups. Our emotional leader, I would say, and I don’t think he would argue with that. He just leads by example," Johnson said of Thomas shortly after making his six captain's picks on Tuesday.

"Overall a fantastic Ryder Cup record. His passion for the Ryder Cup is very evident. He would say it himself, he has said it himself, in my mind, he was born for this. You just don’t leave JT at home.”

Justin Thomas has earned a spot on the Ryder Cup team, even with his bad form. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

This decision to take Thomas over the likes of Lucas Glover or Keegan Bradley may very well come to bite Johnson if he shows up to Italy still very much out of form. Having said that, nothing Johnson said about JT was a lie.

Thomas has absolutely feasted when he has 'USA' written across his hat.

The 30-year-old is 6-2-1 at the Ryder Cup including a 2-0-0 record in singles matches, which include wins over Rory McIlroy in 2018 and Tyrrell Hatton in 2021. Thomas is also 10-3-2 all-time in the Presidents Cup, bringing him to a wildly impressive 16-5-3 in team competitions.

As Johnson said, you just don't leave a guy like that at home. Thomas' ceiling is simply too high, and even with his bad form, his floor has to be higher than that of Glover, the 43-year-old who would have been making his Ryder Cup debut if selected.

Thomas has proven on multiple occasions now that he finds a different gear when representing the U.S. and Johnson is hoping he can find a way to flip that switch one more time as the Americans try to end their 30-year drought across the pond.

With JT's outstanding Ryder Cup record, he's earned a spot on the team until he goes out and disappoints. That may be an oversimplified way to look at it, but sometimes things aren't all that complicated.

Follow Mark Harris on X @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.