AUGUSTA, Ga. – Justin Thomas has finished inside the top 10 in two of the last three years at Augusta National Golf Club, and over that same stretch has led all competitors in birdies and eagles made with 57.
“Sounds like I need to make a lot less bogeys and doubles from that stat you just gave me,” said Thomas with a laugh ahead of this week’s 2023 Masters.
“Obviously the golf course, it is what it is. It’s right in front of us. And yeah, it is one of those places that the more you play it, the better I feel like you get to know it, and I feel like I have a pretty good — really good idea of how to play it, and at that point, it’s just about going out and executing and hitting the shots when you need to and making the putts.”
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And there lies the struggle that the former world No. 1 has faced both recently on the PGA Tour and in his previous eight Masters appearances. In eight starts this year, Thomas has two top-10s and a handful of mediocre finishes by his high marks. The issue? The 15-time winner on Tour ranks 147th so far this season in Strokes Gained: Putting and just 132nd in greens in regulation percentage (65.10).
At a place like Augusta National, that won’t cut it. So to help alleviate the issues on the green, Thomas recently changed putter grips after playing with Rory McIlroy, but it’s not a completely fresh start.
“It’s very similar to a grip I’ve used and won with quite a bit,” said Thomas. “I’ve traveled with an identical backup every single week, and I just threw it on there to see how it felt, to be perfectly honest, and feels pretty good, so why fight it.”
While Thomas may have put too much pressure on himself to force the issue and chase success at this tournament in the past, he was relaxed on Tuesday with the media and even cracked a few jokes. When asked about the golf ball rollback and how it may play on Augusta National’s newly created back tee, he quipped, “I’m sure that Augusta National would love to be able to go back and sell the land that they bought.”
Later he told a few stories about wanting vice captain Tiger Woods to make him a sandwich at the 2017 Presidents Cup and how his friend and fellow PGA Tour player Daniel Berger was too nervous to play in front of the 15-time major champion that week.
“So when we thought we had (Tiger) to use to our advantage, to make the other team nervous, that actually made some of our own…
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