In his greatest season, 2017, Justin Thomas won five tournaments, including his first PGA Championship, he ranked 43rd in strokes gained: putting. He claimed the overall FedExCup title.
Thomas, a 15-time PGA TOUR champion, is currently ranked 147th in Strokes Gained: Putting (-.262). He hasn’t won in more than a year, and as the 70th-ranked player in the FedExCup, he is in danger of missing out on the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the opening round of the FedExCup Playoffs.
There had to be a trade-off.
In the opening round of the Genesis Scottish Open on Thursday at the Renaissance Club, Thomas decided to try cross-handed putting. He need 28 putts and finished a 2-under 68, so it went fairly well.
“On TOUR, not much. I’ve done it intermittently and haphazardly. I used it a bit when I was a junior golfer and used it to win a few college events. I used to alter and fiddle with things a lot more, almost mid-round.” he responded when asked how frequently he uses the left-hand low grip.
“My first year, I recall our Jerry Pate tournament. I wasn’t putting well, so I decided to just cross-hand put, and I ended up winning by maybe five or six that week,” he said.
Thomas confesses that this season has been difficult and that his putting issues have started to affect other aspects of his game. He missed the cut at the U.S. Open last month after shooting a second-round 81, which caught him off guard and was, in his opinion, the lowest point of his professional career.
Thomas employed a left-hand-low grip on the back nine of his second round at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit two weeks ago after signing for an opening-round score of 76, possibly reasoning he had nothing to lose. He made a score of 69, and even though he didn’t make the cut, he was sufficiently inspired to try the grip at the Genesis Scottish right away.
So far, everything has been going smoothly.
“There were undoubtedly a few putts that I could have made, in my opinion. The greatest question mark for me going into today was how well I would do with my lag putting. I believe I make the most of my hands, but when I tried to knock putts from 60, 70, and 80 feet, I wasn’t sure if I was going to go conventional or not.” he said.
Even on the long ones, he used the cross-handed technique, and it worked brilliantly, just like in his practice rounds. Had his shot not ended up in a few pot bunkers from which he was unable to save par, his round would have been much better.
This week, Thomas made news for reasons unrelated to golf because he and Jordan Spieth will soon hold a minority stake in the Leeds United football team. Spieth revealed to Sky TV that the two lifelong friends had invested in the 49ers Enterprises ownership company, which is taking control of the recently demoted Leeds club.
Even Thomas himself was somewhat taken aback by it.
It was entirely arbitrary. Jordan was presented with the opportunity by, I suppose, someone he knew, and things moved forward from there. Being a sports lover, I would have asked, What division? if you had told me when I was 15 that your first dive into the world of sports franchises would be a football team. AFC South, perhaps? Being a part of something like that is cool, but you don’t do it to be cool.
The most exciting development would be if Thomas could finally improve his putting, especially with only four tournaments left until the FedExCup Playoffs begin.
“It can be difficult to convince oneself that this shot, this round, or tomorrow might be the day. Since I remember doing that my first year, wanting to make the TOUR Championship my second year, and really working to try to make the Ryder Cup, I’m making an effort not to think about things that are occurring or could happen in the future, the Playoffs, or attempting to make anything. There is no benefit to that.” he said.
“Everything will work out if I just go out and try to play as well as I can, attempt to win golf tournaments, and get into contention,” he said.
