Justin Thomas has been watching a lot of golf lately. And while he loves golf, the former Alabama All-American would like to watch less and play more.

“I’m a golf fan. I am,” Thomas said on Tuesday. “Obviously, it sucks this year. I’ve literally watched, basically all four majors, the winners play their entire final round, so that’s not what you want to be. You want to be the one that’s being watched. There’s a lot of people that if they miss the cut or aren’t playing well, they don’t want to watch, but I’m a golf fan.

“I felt like I learned from watching Brooks (Koepka) at the PGA (Championship). His demeanor and how he went about everything, for me personally, I was like, ‘That’s how I want to be, how I want to act when I’m out there playing in majors.’ (Brian) Harm(an) two days ago (at the British Open), how he just picked his way around that golf course and just seeing how focused he was. And him and Big Country, his caddie, were kind of in their own little world under that umbrella. As a fan, I like to watch, but also if I can learn a thing or two, that’s great.”

Ranked seventh in the Official World Golf Ranking after a fourth-place finish in the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Feb. 12, Thomas is 24th on the list now after missing the cut at the British Open.

In his 14 tournaments since Phoenix, Thomas missed the cut five times, finished 60th or higher three times and placed in the top 10 twice – 10th at the Valspar Championship on March 12 and ninth at the Travelers Championship on June 25.

The slump for the two-time major champion has left Thomas 75th in the season points standings on the PGA Tour. The top 70 advance to the FedEx Cup playoffs starting with the FedEx St. Jude Championship. From there, the top 50 move on to the BMW Championship before the top 30 play in the Tour Championship.

Thomas has reached the Tour Championship for seven straight seasons, finished in the top 12 in points annually in that span and won the FedEx Cup in 2017.

Two events remain on the PGA Tour schedule before the cut to the playoff field. That’s why Thomas is playing this week in the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota, for the first time in his career.

“In the past, I may just be able to rely on a good first event or two in the playoffs,” Thomas said, “but the way it is now, you have to play some good golf to be in the playoffs, and I haven’t exactly done that so far, so I have two weeks to get myself in a good spot.”

In his most recent round, Thomas carded an even-par 71 in the second round of the British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Friday. But that had been preceded by an 82 in the first round. And his previous round in a major had been an 81 to shoot his way out of the U.S. Open on June 16.

Thomas blamed the bad rounds on “bonehead mistakes” and “middle-school-golf type stuff.”

“I’m trying to look at the big picture,” Thomas said on Friday. “I’m trying to not focus too much on days like yesterday. I’m trying not to dwell on it or just — you never want to do it in any event, but it just sucks when it’s the first round of a major and you have no chance anymore.

“But, I mean, everybody has their waves, their kind of momentum and rides and rock bottoms, whatever you want to call it. I just keep telling myself, ‘This is it, I’m coming out of it,’ and I unfortunately have surprised myself a couple times with some bad rounds. It doesn’t mean a day’s good play like today doesn’t get a spark going. I don’t know. All I can do is try to be in the frame of mind for it, too.”

Perhaps more than the FedEx Cup, Thomas also is trying to play his way back onto the U.S. Ryder Cup team. He’s 14th in the U.S. rankings. The top six automatically make the team. Captain Zach Johnson will fill out the squad with six selections for the competition against the European team from Sept. 29 through Oct. 1 at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy.

Thomas has a 6-2-1 record while playing in the past two Ryder Cup events.

“I want to make the Ryder Cup more than anything,” Thomas said, “and I’m probably, honestly, trying too hard to do it. I mean, it reminds me a lot of my first or second year on Tour. I tried so hard to make that team for the first time, and I’m in a very similar position. I’ve been trying to make it easy on Zach and get in the top six, but I seem to not want to do that with my golf. But have a couple of events left to try to get in the playoffs and make a little bit of a run and try to prove a point.”

Johnson said Thomas will get straightened out because he works too hard not to. The U.S. Ryder Cup captain was just one of Thomas’ peers who have spoken of their confidence in him this summer.

“JT is one of the most talented guys out here,” Rory McIlroy said. “He shot 69 at TPC a couple of years ago in like 40 mile-an-hour winds, and I always remind him of it. But I always go back to that. If JT can put that sort of display on in those conditions – yeah, we all go through bad patches. That’s golf. There’s not one player in the world that hasn’t. But he’s got the right people around him, and he’s got the right work ethic to get himself out of it.”

Thomas is scheduled to tee off in the first round of the 3M Open at 12:54 p.m. CDT Thursday.

“This is a good chance for me to learn a little bit about myself and push myself and become better,” Thomas said. “I mean, this game, nothing’s given to you.”

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.