GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — Justin Thomas is too occupied with helping the Americans end three decades of losing the Ryder Cup on European soil to worry about any criticism of him being part of that effort.
U.S. captain Zach Johnson had no second thoughts about using one of his six wild-card selections on Thomas, in a slump so severe that he failed to reach the PGA Tour’s postseason for the first time in his career.
Neither did the six automatic qualifiers or vice captains who had a voice in the selections. Thomas has been an emotional spark in his two Ryder Cup appearances, along with a 6-2-1 record in France and Wisconsin.
As for anyone else, Thomas says he has a short memory when it comes to criticism.
“I definitely haven’t kept the receipts,” he said Tuesday. “I don’t feel like there is any good that can come from that. When it comes to stuff online, everybody has got an opinion, and theirs is right and everybody else’s is wrong. … The only thing that mattered to me was that Zach and the vice captains and the other six guys wanted me on the team.