Hypercritical of Max Homa, Justin Thomas’s Best Bud Warns Team USA of Ugly Presidents Cup Fate

Captain Jim Furyk has locked on the twelve of the best golfers to represent the USA at the 2024 Presidents Cup. The set includes remarkable players like Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Sahith Theegala, Max Homa, and more. After the revealed captain’s picks, did you think a player was missing from the list, someone who should have replaced Homa, particularly Justin Thomas? If you did not, Smylie Kaufman, who is a good friend of JT, did.

In the latest episode of the Smylie Show, the analyst weighed in on how he could not understand some picks made by Furyk. The six picks were Brian Harman, Max Homa, Russell Henley, Tony Finau, Sam Burns, and 2025 Ryder Cup skipper Keegan Bradley. Kaufman understood that Finau was probably given preference over Justin Thomas because, even though both are good ball strikers, they have a shaky putter. So Furyk probably did not want the same kind of players on the team.

But the former PGA Tour pro had questions about Homa making the team. He said, “The Max one is very difficult to [understand] when you look at the numbers and try to understand why Max was picked versus other guys.” Kaufman argued that Billy Horschel and Thomas had a better second half in the 2024 season than the 6-time PGA Tour winner. The NBC commentator emphasized that JT made it to the TOUR Championship and finished T14, whereas Homa wasn’t even in the field.

Another player that Kaufman questioned was 2023 Open winner Brian Harman, who was also missing East Lake but made it to the President’s Cup’s team. Sharing his feelings about JT missing it, Kaufman added, “I’m definitely a little, you know, disappointed in that JT’s not on the team.” Furthermore, he added that he could see Homa and Brian both not being picked over Thomas.

Explaining why Thomas was important for this year’s Presidents Cup, Kaufman quotes the 2023 Ryder Cup captain, Zach Johnson. He had said then that one could just not leave JT home during events like the Ryder or Presidents Cup. However, the 33-year-old explained that if Thomas had missed the 2023 Ryder Cup, it could’ve been understood because he didn’t make it to the FedExCup playoffs last year. However, this year was different for the 13-time PGA Tour winner. Kaufman concluded, “Potentially, if this United States team loses, I think the picks again will be criticized.”

Is Smylie Kaufman right to put Justin Thomas over Max Homa? Let’s see who had a better 2024 season.

Who had a better 2024 season, Max Homa or Justin Thomas?
In the 2024 season, Max Homa played 20 events, one more than Justin Thomas, and missed the cut only thrice. Meanwhile, JT missed making it to the weekend four times. Overall, the 2-time major winner has more top 10s and 25s (3 & 8). On the other hand, Homa was in the top 10 three times and the top 25 eight times. In the top finishes, the two are closer.

But when you look at the majors, it seems Homa had an upper hand. The 6-time PGA Tour winner missed the cut of only the US Open. In the men’s first major, he was T3, but at the PGA Championship and the 152nd Open, his performance derailed, as he finished T35 and T43, respectively. As for Thomas, he missed the cut at the Masters and the US Open. He was T8 in Valhalla and T31 at the Royal Troon.

Then in the FedExCup Playoffs, Homa was the bottommost at the St. Jude Championship (70) and T33 at the BMW Championship. Unfortunately, he could not make it to the East Lake as he was out of the top 30. But JT could; he posted T30, T39, and T14 at the St. Jude Championship, Castle Pines, and the TOUR Championship. This is what Smylie Kaufman was alluding to about JT showing his capabilities at the playoffs, whereas Homa or Harman could not.

Overall, it seems Homa’s performance was more consistent than JT’s, and that’s probably why Jim Furyk favored him over Thomas. But JT doesn’t have bad blood with the USA captain; he has taken it as motivation and hoped to never miss the team event. The Presidents Cup is 13 days away; it will become apparent if Homa was the right choice over Justin Thomas or not; even JT will have his eyes glued to the TV.