Justin Thomas taking 'precautionary' measures for right wrist

ATLANTA – Justin Thomas, who will try to become the first player to successfully defend his FedExCup title since the Playoffs began in 2007, showed up for his pre-tournament news conference with his wrist wrapped in medical tape.

Addressing reporters at the TOUR Championship at East Lake, Thomas, a three-time winner this season, said he injured his right wrist while hitting a shot on the 13th hole of the final round of the BMW Championship at Aronimink. As a precautionary measure, he taped it and worked only on his short game in the off-week since his T12 finish at the BMW.

“I just kind of tweaked it,” Thomas said. “… Just a little tightness. It probably looks worse than it is. With two big weeks coming up, it’s kind of more precautionary than anything.”

With three victories, most recently at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Thomas held the top spot in the FedExCup for eight weeks. Apart from the first week of the season, he never dropped below ninth in the standings.

Thomas has spoken more than once of his slight disappointment at finishing second in the TOUR Championship last season, even though he won the FedExCup. He has a chance to atone for that this week and is in the best position of any FedExCup winner to defend his title.

How much his wrist will play into all of that remains to be seen.

“I’d never had an injury before,” Thomas said. “I’ve never had it happen. It just kind of popped up, and yeah, I took last week off, didn’t hit a ball. I chipped and putted a lot, so my short game feels pretty good. But in all honesty, this time of year, it’s nice to take time off. You’re better off being mentally fresh than you are, I would say, having my game physically fresh.

“… I could have been kind of run into the ground,” he added. “Getting that time off and getting some rest and just trying to get this thing healed up and feel good as soon as possible coming into Thursday was important.”