Justin Thomas is hoping a switch to a cross handed putting grip can help not only his form on the greens but his overall golf game in order to salvage a disappointing season.
The 30-year-old hasn’t won for over a year and his form has been so poor this year that he arrived in Scotland down in the 70th and final place to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
His putting has been a major problem for the 15-time PGA Tour winner, sitting way down in 147th in Strokes Gained on the greens and his woes with the flat stick crept into his overall game.
Needing to find something, Thomas switched to putt cross handed on the back nine of his second round at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit and shot 69.
He used it from the start at the Genesis Scottish Open and return a first round of 68 with 28 putts at the Renaissance Club – where he hopes he can kick-start his season with his revamped putting grip.
“I’ve done it randomly here and there,” Thomas said of putting left hand low. “I did it in junior golf some, I won a couple college tournaments doing it.
“I used to change and tinker with stuff a lot more, kind of like mid-round. I remember our tournament, the Jerry Pate, my freshman year.
“I wasn’t putting good, and I just said screw it, I’m putting cross handed, and I won by like five or six that week.”
With the Open Championship, then FedEx Cup Playoffs and Ryder Cup all still to come, it could still be a big year for Thomas, who is just trying to focus on playing well again and let the rest take care of itself.
“It’s hard to get yourself to belief that tomorrow could be the day, or this could be the shot or this could be the round,” he said.
“I’m trying to not think about things that are happening or could happen down the line, or the playoffs, or trying to make this or that because I remember doing that my rookie year or trying to make the Tour Championship my second year, really fighting to try to make the Ryder Cup. Nothing good comes from that.
“I just have to go out and try to play the best I possibly can, and try to win golf tournaments and get in contention and good stuff will happen.”
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