CJ Cup Recap: Thomas on Hot Streak

When Justin Thomas came to the 18th tee on Saturday with a three-stroke lead, it seemed a good bet he'd carry a comfortable advantage into the final round of the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges, maybe even a huge one. But after two eye-popping shots – one by Thomas and the other by Danny Lee – the lead was completely gone.

First, Thomas shockingly found the water from the middle of fairway and made a bogey-6. Second, Lee drained a curling, uphill-then-downhill 60-footer for an eagle-3. Suddenly, they were tied after 54 holes, setting the stage for a surprisingly taut Sunday on Jeju Island in South Korea.

Thomas and Lee separated themselves from the field and took turns with the lead through the front nine. Things weren't fully decided until they returned to 18, where Lee's bid for another eagle lipped out and Thomas made a testy par putt to end up with a two-stroke victory.

The win was Thomas' second in the three-year history of the CJ Cup (2017) and adds to some very lofty numbers to his resume, both current and career.

It was his second victory in two months after a year-long dry spell and extends a strong surge that has carried him back to No. 4 in the world. Thomas has now finished no worse than top-12 in his past eight worldwide starts.

It also was the 11th PGA Tour win for the 26-year-old Thomas. Golf Channel flashed a graphic showing golfers with the most wins age 27 or younger in the past 60 years: Tigers Woods, 34; Jack Nicklaus, 20; Thomas, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, 11. That's pretty impressive company, but Thomas has about another 18 months to add to that total before turning 28.

Thomas thus has thrust himself back into the conversation at the very top of golf, along with Brooks Koepka, McIlroy, Jon Rahm and perhaps Dustin Johnson. Thomas just leap-frogged Rahm in the OWGR and is closing in on Johnson, though they are all so bunched together, we could see a lot of movement atop the rankings in 2020, especially if Koepka is sidelined or impacted for any length of time (more on that lower down). And don't forget oncoming Patrick Cantlay, not far behind at No. 6.

Thomas missed time last season with a wrist injury, and just last month disclosed a melanoma scare that required a procedure on his left leg. But since tying for ninth at the Scottish Open in mid-July, it's been all-systems-go for Thomas – and in some big tournaments: T11 at the Open Championship, T12 at the WGC-FedEx, T12 at the Northern Trust, win at the BMW Championship, T9 at the Tour Championship and even T4 at the Safeway.

Thomas is in the field this week at the inaugural Zozo Championship in Japan. It's of course terribly hard to win two weeks in a row, but Thomas is well positioned. Like with the CJ Cup, the Zozo is only a 78-player field, and for whatever reason, he has thrived in Asia, winning twice at both Nine Bridges and the now-defunct CIMB Classic in Malaysia.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Danny Lee
Lee never backed down and had a great week. Yet it came out of nowhere. The runner-up was his first top-10 since April and only his second in the past year. Lee is a native of South Korea (though he now has citizenship in New Zealand), making the pressure to do well even greater and the result even more impressive. That said, Lee entered the week in the 160s OWGR for a reason. And that reason is, he doesn't have many good weeks. This will be a tremendous payday – both in cash and FedEx Cup points – but this does not signal a greater fantasy value for Lee.

Brooks Koepka
Koepka withdrew after two rounds with an injury to his left knee, which he had declared 100 percent just a few weeks earlier after disclosing that it had been bothering him since March. Koepka had a torn tendon and underwent stem cell treatment, but when he slipped on some wet concrete in South Korea, he was hurt again. What this holds for the future, beginning with the Presidents Cup in early December, we don't know. Koepka was supposed to play more during this Asian Swing, but he has returned to Florida.

Cameron Smith
Smith began the year at 25 years old and No. 27 in the world, and appeared ready to take the next step in his career. Instead, that step went backward. Smith's ranking began to slide, to the point that he began this week outside the top-50. That said, he had shown signs of reversing his bad stretch, and only added to that optimism with a tie for third at Nine Bridges. That is Smith's third top-25 in four starts this season and he's once again inside the top-50. Of course, that's an important place to be at the end of the year.

Gary Woodland
The reigning U.S. Open champion shot 65-65 on the weekend to zoom up the leaderboard and tie for third. It was by far his best showing since the Open. Woodland had had only one top-30 since June – and that came in a tournament with only 30 golfers, the Tour Championship. It appears safe to jump back on the Woodland bandwagon when conditions call for it, as opposed to post-Open, when it was best to steer clear of him altogether.

Jordan Spieth
This was the first time we had seen Spieth since he missed the Tour Championship for the second straight year. We believed Nine Bridges would be a good fit for his game – nonpenal fairways, difficult greens favoring the best putters – and it was. Spieth tied for eighth. Unsurprisingly, he led the field in putting average. Perhaps most important, he did not implode on the weekend, as he was wont to do last season. Spieth shot under par on both Saturday and Sunday. We'll see him again this week in Japan.

Phil Mickelson
Mickelson has done it! For one more week, at least. We all know the story by now, that Mickelson has been inside the top-50 in the world for more than a quarter-century, since 1993, but that he entered the week at No. 47 and in danger of slipping outside. There was high drama, as he birdied his final two holes to close with a 4-under round for a 7-under total for the week, leaving him tied for 31st. It was Mickelson's best finish since the Masters. And it was just enough to keep inside the top-50 – at 50th. But the incredible run will almost certainly end next week, as Mickelson is not playing this week.

Jason Day
Day is winding down a year that began with great promise – top-fives at Torrey and Pebble, top-10 at Sawgrass, another top-five at the Masters. But since Augusta, he has had only one top-20, and he embarrassingly failed to secure an automatic Presidents Cup spot. Day surely will be a captain's pick, but he is not the rock that Ernie Els was counting on. Day tied for 31st at South Korea, his sixth straight tournament without a top-30 finish.

Viktor Hovland
Hovland's record streak – yes, record – for consecutive rounds in the 60s ended on Saturday at 19. But he went right back on Sunday and turned in a 3-under 69 to tie Mickelson, Day and others for 31st. It was his worst showing since the Travelers, and he did not justify his position on the DK board – the No. 4 price at $10,500. For all he's done since arriving on the scene just a few months ago, that price was a bit much for Hovland. We touted him but we shouldn't have at that price. Fellow Class of '19 arrivals Collin Morikawa (T36) and Matthew Wolff (72nd) also finished far off the pace, showing that there's still much learning to be done even after a maiden Tour win.

Nate Lashley
Virtually no one had ever heard of Lashley before he won at Detroit over the summer, and it's been a bit of a surprise that he has not gone back from whence he came. Many guys like Lashley are one-hit wonders. While he may not win again, he appears good enough to be a regular lineup consideration, especially on courses where putting takes on added importance, and especially since he's usually sub-$7,000 on DraftKings. Lashley tied for 20th at Nine Bridges, thanks largely to ranking seventh in putting average, and he now resides in the 80s OWGR.