The Fortinet Championship is past its third round and has one more round until it gets over. Prior to the tournament, when the top contenders for the title were being discussed, Justin Thomas was on the list. While his performance had been neat in the first rounds, it was in fact his third round that cemented his spot on the leaderboard.

Despite his difficult and inconsistent year, the golf pro now looks like a serious contender for the Fortinet Championship. And following his impressive round on Saturday, he excitedly revealed the secret weapon behind his success, which he intends to use for the Ryder Cup as well!

Three-quarters of an inch to three hundred fifty yards

In his post-round press conference on Saturday, Justin Thomas revealed how he has been using a different shaft for his driver. He stated that the change added about three-quarters of an inch to the length of the driver. He had been playing with the club for almost three weeks before the tournament.

Thomas said that he was just experimenting with the change. “Something to just kind of travel with, if I needed it for maybe certain courses.” However, after the brilliant third round, he too was impressed with the driver.

The PGA Tour star mentioned how he had not started off very well with the driver. He admitted he wasn’t hitting very well. “I just hadn’t used it in a competition to have the trust and faith in it.” Satisfied with his experiment, Thomas expressed his joy. “If I drive it like I did today, I’ll use it for the rest of my career.”  

Looking at his stats for the third round, his driving accuracy was at 40.48 percent, and his average driving distance was 319 yards. And his longest drive stretched out to a 354-yard distance.

Read more: Behest of His Captain’s Confidence, Ryder Cup Bound Justin Thomas Is Seeking an Early Redemption

JT undoubtedly has reasons to be happy about his game, especially after how the 2-time major winner has performed at the Fortinet Championship just days ahead of his Ryder Cup appearance in Rome!

Justin Thomas is playing like a true contender

In the first round of the ongoing Fortinet Championship, Justin Thomas scored a 69. With one bogey to set off against his four birdies, he finished the first round with a 3-under par. The second round was an improvement over the first. This time, his one bogey in the round, adjusted with his six birdies, resulted in a 5-under score.

Keeping up with the trend of improving his round by a score of 2, Thomas scored 65 in the third round thanks to five birdies and an eagle in a bogey-free round. In the pre-tournament press conference, Justin Thomas spoke about how he didn’t think it was important to prove himself. Instead, he was focusing on just playing good golf in the tournament. Well, that attitude certainly seems to have worked well for him.

The PGA Tour star seems to be on a path to shutting down all those who were skeptical about his spot in the Ryder Cup. And arguably, as long as he holds on to the driver, he just might be able to pull that off!

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