Justin Thomas is $2m richer this week… without hitting a ball

It’s fair to say Justin Thomas didn’t have the week he wanted at last week’s US PGA Championship.

Not only did he fail to contend for the title – won in virtuoso fashion by Collin Morikawa – but he also handed the world No.1 ranking back to Jon Rahm just seven days after taking it from the Spaniard.

Still, it wasn’t all doom and gloom, as Thomas still had a reason to leave TPC Harding Park with a smile on his face.

Or two million reasons, to be more accurate.

Irrespective of what happens in this week’s Wyndham Championship, the final event of the regular PGA Tour season, Thomas is guaranteed to go into the FedEx Cup Playoffs as the No.1 seed. 

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As a result, he has won the Wyndham Rewards bonus – trousering a cool $2million in the process.

The bonus scheme was established last year by hotel firm Wyndham in the hope of enticing more of the world’s top players to play in its event. In its end-of-regular-season slot, it has typically been overlooked by players already qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs and has, instead, become a ‘last chance saloon’ for players at the wrong end of the money list to try and salvage their playing privileges for the next season.

By offering cash bonuses for the top-10 players on the FedEx Cup standings following its event, Wyndham thought that it could attract more big names to take part and try to climb the standings. 

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It has worked, to a degree. Whilst Thomas isn’t in the field, eight of the 29 who are mathematically able to finish inside the top-10 are scheduled to compete in the Wyndham. 

And whilst all current PGA Tour card-holders are assured of retaining their playing privileges for the 2020-21 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still some high-profile names who need a good week this week to either secure or improve their FedEx Cup Playoffs standing. 

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They include Brooks Koepka (92nd), Jordan Spieth (94th) and Justin Rose (103rd) as well as Keegan Bradley (107th), Graeme McDowell (108th), Shane Lowry (131st) and Sergio Garcia (134th).

Whilst those players jockey for position, Thomas can relax at home with $2million extra to go with the $7,251,402 in official on-course earnings he has already made this year. 

Hypothetically, should he play in and win all three FedEx Cup events, he could make a further $19million in the next month.