Justin Thomas Finishes Fourth at The Masters

Alabama alum Justin Thomas capped a strong week at The Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, on Sunday, finishing in solo fourth place, eight shots behind winner Dustin Johnson.

It's his second-highest finish in a major championship, his highest finish since he won the 2017 PGA Championship, and the first time in his career he's finished in the top 10 of back-to-back majors, following an eighth-place finish at the U.S. Open in September.

It also continues a positive trend at The Masters in his fifth appearance at the event. After finishing 39th in his debut in 2016, he has improved to 22nd to 17th to 12th to fourth.

Thomas was near the top of the leaderboard all week, opening his first round on Thursday with three straight birdies en route to a 6-under par 66.

He continued to rack up birdies, making 12 total on Friday and Saturday. He was tied for the lead after a 3-under par 69 on Friday, marking the first time that the top three players in the world rankings — No. 1 Johnson, No. 2 Jon Rahm and No. 3 Thomas — were tied at the end of any round in a major.

"I understood, as soft as the course is, I could make a lot of birdies and get it back," Thomas said. "And I was able to do that."

Thomas was in position to chase down Johnson during the third round after a birdie on the difficult 10th hole, but several errant iron shots down the stretch led to four bogeys. He trailed Johnson by 6 shots entering Sunday's final round.

He started the final day 1-over par through 7 holes after hooking his drive into the penalty area on the second hole, one of the easiest on the course. He recovered to birdie the eighth and 12th holes to get back under par for the round, and he added an eagle on the 15th to get to 13-under par.

He bogeyed the 17th, but closed the tournament with a par from the bunker on the 18th to remain one shot ahead of two other players and clinch solo fourth.

Listen to Thomas' Friday post-round press conference here or watch every shot from his second round here.

Two events remain in the 2020 schedule: the RSM Classic on Sea Island, Georgia, and the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico. Thomas did not play in either one last year, so it's likely that his next official event will be the Sentry Tournament of Champions to open the 2021 season.