NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE #1 GRIP ON TOUR
The smallest of adjustments can be meaningful at the highest level.
Take the case of Justin Thomas, a player who has spent the majority of his career searching for a spark on the greens. We wrote earlier this year about a timely putter change from the Scotty Cameron X5 dual-winged mallet to the Scotty Cameron T5 Proto that aided in his PGA Championship victory, but Thomas endured some mediocre putting performances in the aftermath of his second major triumph.
Rather than switch to another putter, Thomas decided to evaluate his current gamer. He noticed a technical error creeping into his game – his left shoulder was getting too high at address, which slightly altered the arc of his stroke – and started to consider whether going away from his standard 34.5-inch length wand would help him become more efficient.
Thomas had tested a 34-inch version of the putter earlier this year, so he asked Scotty Cameron rep Drew Page to send him a shortened version of the T5 in advance of the BMW Championship. His first thought was to use it in practice in anticipation of potentially using it later in the year, but Thomas liked the 34-inch version enough to put it in his bag immediately. The shorter length lowered his left shoulder and provided an added comfort.
“I switched because it was the exact same feel,” Thomas said. “Scotty (Cameron) did an unbelievable job. It's very difficult to make putters the exact same in terms of feel. They may be the same, but none of them are ever the same in terms of clubs in general. But it feels identical, so getting adjusted and acclimated to the speed wasn't difficult, but just being a little bit shorter was so much easier for me to get in a good setup.”
Often a streaky putter, Thomas came out of the gates firing at the BMW Championship by gaining more than two strokes on the greens in round one.
“It was the best I've putted in an extremely long time,” Thomas said. “Every single putt I hit was exactly where I wanted, the speed I wanted it. It was nice. I hadn't felt that in a while.”
He faltered in his ensuing four competitive rounds, but then saw improvements during rounds two and three of the Tour Championship, where he finished No. 10 in strokes gained putting. It’s a work in progress, but Thomas is excited about the way he feels over the putter – that mentality alone can be more valuable than any other variable.
Thomas plays a full Titleist bag, contributing to the brand sweeping every major equipment category at last week’s Tour Championship. Titleist won the counts for drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, utility irons, irons, wedges and putters. Of the 29 competitors, 83 percent of them had at least one piece of Titleist equipment in the bag.
Sean Fairholm