Brandt Snedeker didn’t pause before saying it. “Justin Thomas.” No hedging, no long windup, just the name, dropped into the Presidents Cup Selection Special on YouTube like it was never really in question in the first place.
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That’s a little strange, because on paper it should have been. Thomas hasn’t had the kind of year that usually earns a captain’s pick. With one top-10 and another top-5, he doesn’t presently have the kind of résumé that normally makes a decision this easy. Besides that, Thomas has just one win on the PGA Tour in the past two years. So why did Snedeker call his name without blinking?
“He’s just the epitome of what you want as a team captain,” Snedeker said. “He has the ability to play his best golf when stuff’s on the line, especially when it comes to team events.”
That’s the whole argument, really. A PGA Tour season is a grind, with players competing week after week across individual stroke-play events, just being solid enough to make the cut and cash a check. The Presidents Cup is nothing like that. A series of 18-hole match-play battles in which players compete directly against an opponent rather than against an entire field. Snedeker seems to genuinely believe those are two separate skills, and that Thomas losing his footing in one doesn’t mean he’s lost it in the other.
“He’s going to hit the shot that needs to be hit,” he added.
This will mark Thomas’s fourth Presidents Cup, and the first three all ended the same way, with the U.S. winning in 2017, 2019 and 2022. His 10-3-2 overall record is one of the better marks on this year’s roster. Moreover, he is a perfect 6-0-0 in fourball. He has zero wins in three career singles matches, but has never lost as part of a pair.
Thomas comes in ranked 11th on the U.S. points list, and this is his first appearance since being left off the 2024 team in Montreal. He’s also never had the same partner twice, as four different players have lined up alongside him across his three prior Presidents Cups, and none of the four made this year’s twelve. Whoever Snedeker pairs him with will be uncharted ground for both men.
“Justin has always embraced the responsibility and privilege of representing the United States. He loves team competition, he thrives in the atmosphere and he has a way of energizing both his teammates and the fans around him. His experience in these events is a tremendous asset, and I know he’ll play an important role both on and off the course,” Snedeker added.
And that’s the question sitting underneath this whole pick: does composure like that hold up when the scoring average says it shouldn’t? Snedeker thinks so. He put Thomas’s name on it despite the season he had.