Justin Thomas adopts AimPoint system, contending at Wells Fargo
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Came into this week 152nd in Strokes Gained: Putting
Written by Cameron Morfit
Came into this week 152nd in Strokes Gained: Putting
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Justin Thomas, who won the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow on the way to capturing the FedExCup, came into this week’s Wells Fargo Championship languishing at 71st in the FedExCup.
Justin Thomas's approach from the rough sets up birdie at Wells Fargo
You didn’t have to look hard for an explanation. He was 152nd in Strokes Gained: Putting.
“Seems like basically every round I'm playing I shoot the highest score that I possibly can,” Thomas, a 15-time PGA TOUR winner, said in his pre-tournament press conference.
But he had a secret.
Last Wednesday, in his second week of a two-week break, Thomas got together with his putting coach, John Graham, and someone new: AimPoint Golf founder and developer Mark Sweeney.
“It was probably two or three hours and just worked with him,” Thomas said after signing for a second-round 67 that got him to 7 under par, one off the lead shared by Tyrrell Hatton (65), Nate Lashley (66) and Wyndham Clark (67) with the afternoon wave still out on the course.
Justin Thomas interview after Round 2 of Wells Fargo
AimPoint is a system of reading greens used by several top players, including but not limited to Keegan Bradley, Max Homa, and Adam Scott. In part it asks players to feel slope in their feet.
So far, you’d have to say it’s been working for Thomas, who took 30 putts Thursday and 29 Friday and was finally in positive numbers in Strokes Gained: Putting, gaining around a stroke per round.
“Keegan and Max have both been very helpful for me because they both do it,” he said. “I called both of them, I talked to them for a while. Keegan said it best, it's a very simple idea but like a complex system, if you will, or maybe opposite. It's one of those things that once you get it, it's a very generic, pretty simple like bang, go, do it.
“It's just getting comfortable enough with what you're feeling,” Thomas continued. “And how everybody feels slope is different. How I feel it might be different than you or Keegan or Max or whatever. At the end of the day, if the ball's going in the hole, who cares, right?”
The tournament is only half finished, but Thomas said he’s enjoyed taking the guesswork out of his green-reading and feels the new system has potential. It’s already helping him get more out of his rounds.
“I've really liked it the last two days,” he said.
