Only the top 50 in the FedExCup standings after the first playoff event were eligible for the second event, the BMW Championship. Despite starting his season late due to back surgery, Justin Thomas managed to reach the milestone. Making it to the BMW Championship 2026, however, has done little to satisfy the 16-time PGA Tour winner. What would make him happy is reaching the Tour Championship 2026 in Atlanta. But currently, he remains frustrated with his 44th position in the rankings because only the top 30 advance.
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“For someone who is really hard on themselves and is pissed off that I’m even in this spot, and I feel like I should be in a lot better spot, I think I would even give myself some grace and take a lot of pride in that. Because it’s really hard to make it to Atlanta. It’s always been hard, but I feel like it’s even harder. And I missed some events that I play really, really well over the course of my career,” JT said during the post-round conference at the BMW Championship.
“I mean, the last, what, two or three years, I think I’ve been in the top 5 in Palm Springs, played Phoenix really, really well. I love Riv, played Pebble well. So those are places that I’ve gotten off to nice starts at. So I was bummed to miss ’em for many reasons, but definitely for the late start. So I would have to take a lot of pride in that if I did.”
Justin Thomas started the week 44th. Thus, he has a significant amount of ground to make up. According to the PGA Tour’s scenarios, he needs at least a solo seventh-place finish in the BMW Championship 2026 to retain a mathematical chance of moving into the top 30. And even that’s not a guarantee, but only a chance of survival.
What’s good for the American professional is that he has kept his hopes alive with a strong start. He started the second playoff event with an opening round of three-under 67. The round featured five birdies and two bogeys. His late rise on the back nine got him the advantage, as he scored four birdies across those nine holes.
JT started the 2026 campaign a little late because of the back surgery he had in November last year. He missed seven events in January and February before his comeback at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. That makes it harder for Thomas to reach the season finale.
Despite that late start, he has still performed decently throughout the season. His overall strokes-gained profile remains strong. He ranks 32nd on the PGA Tour in strokes gained total at 0.697 strokes per round. In strokes gained around the green, he is first on the PGA Tour at 0.618. However, his approach play has been a major weakness. Thomas ranks 113th in strokes gained approach at minus-0.110 and 146th in greens-in-regulation percentage at 63.35 percent. He also ranked 81st in strokes gained putting.
However, frustration has grown due to the missed events. As Justin Thomas pointed out, he believes that he has played well in the past at many events he missed. For instance, he finished tied for third at the American Express 2024. Besides that, his 15-under score at the WM Phoenix Open 2025 helped him finish tied for sixth on the leaderboard. At the Genesis Invitational, he finished tied for ninth last year.
That said, Thomas is not someone who would give up that easily. He will try to make it into the top performers at the BMW Championship to keep his path to the Tour Championship 2026 open.