Justin Thomas pointed to the positives after his third-place finish at World Wide Technologies Championship, a tournament where he was in contention through three rounds but could not close the gap on Sunday and finished 5 shots behind winner Viktor Hovland.
That has -- save for the Players Championship -- been the story of Thomas' 2021 year, one that he determined was disappointing earlier in the week despite the big win at the PGA Tour's flagship event and finishing fourth in the FedEx Cup standings.
"I would say it has not been a very good year at all,'' Thomas said. "Definitely haven't closed out as many tournaments. As good of finishes I've had, I feel like I should have won more than once and played a lot better in the majors."
Thomas clearly has high expectations for himself, and it's easy to see why the previous season did not satisfy him.
Although he won the Players Championship by shooting an impressive final-round 64 that included hitting 17 of 18 greens, Thomas typically walked away frustrated at his inability to win more.
He played 21 times in 2021 as part of the just-completed season and had just five top-10 finishes. He did not contend in any of the major championships, his best a tie for 19th at the U.S. Open. He had a missed cut at the PGA Championship. He also fell from third in the world to sixth after getting to No. 2 following that win at The Players.
"I'm one or two tournaments away from being in the top two or three again,'' Thomas said. "It's all about runs out here. [No. 1-ranked Jon Rahm has] been on an unbelievable run, DJ (Dustin Johnson) got on an unbelievable run, Brooks [Koepka] was on one, Collin's (Morikawa) been on one. Everybody gets on these runs of the top players.
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"And I know that I'm due and ready for another one -- it's just a matter of when it will happen. I just need to stay in the right mind frame for it because this game doesn't necessarily owe you anything. I've just got to keep working and putting myself there, and once I get on a little bit of a run, the world ranking stuff will take care of itself.''
After the Ryder Cup, Thomas and his longtime caddie, Jimmy Johnson, decided to part ways. Thomas then brought on veteran Jim "Bones'' Mackay, who had gone to work for NBC Sports after his long run with Phil Mickelson ended in 2017.
In two starts of the new season, including a tie for 18th at the CJ Cup, it is clear that Thomas is leaning on Mackay for more help on the greens and is looking for improved putting to be an impetus to more success.
Mackay previously caddied for Thomas in a fill-in role, including a victory at the 2020 FedEx St. Jude Championship as well as a run through the FedEx Cup playoffs.
"This is a new season, completely different,'' Thomas said. "Especially with Bones, it kind of feels like a fresh start, a new start. I was getting off to a good start for the FedEx Cup especially and it might take a little pressure off us.''
Thomas did quite well to turn things around at Mayakoba. He was 3 over par through the first nine holes of the tournament at an event where multiple shots under par was required. He turned things around over his final nine holes, shooting 30 to get in red numbers. From there he forged into contention before settling for third.
Thomas will compete again at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas next month, an unofficial event, before resuming his season in January at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.