Justin Thomas Switching to Putter He’s Owned Since Childhood

Justin Thomas is taking the tried and true “go back to the basics” strategy to a whole new level this week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

At the PGA Tour’s first event of the calendar year, it’s commonplace to see players employing the latest equipment releases in their bags for the week. Thomas, however, is making an update to his roster of clubs that isn’t so new and shiny.

This week, the reigning PGA Champion will be reuniting with his Scotty Cameron Newport Circle T, which he apparently first gamed back in his middle school junior golf days.

According to Golf.com’s Dylan Dethier, Thomas last used the blade putter in competition in college. The Kentucky native played for the University of Alabama until he turned professional after his sophomore year in 2013.

That means that Thomas—the 8th-ranked player in the world—will be using a putter that hasn’t seen competition in almost 10 years this week.

Justin Thomas is making a fun putter change this week, going back to a Scotty Cameron blade he first gamed in middle school (!) and hasn’t used in competition since college.

“I like putting with it, so why fight it?”

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— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) January 4, 2023

“I like putting with it,” Thomas told Golf.com. “So why fight it?”

The two-time major champion had previously been using the Scotty Cameron Phantom T5 Prototype on the greens, which looks quite different from his middle-school weapon. Thomas’s typical putter has a winged mallet design, while the club he’ll be using at Kapalua has the classic, streamlined look of a blade.

“I travel with this putter a bunch,” Thomas continued. “I’ve brought it tournaments with no intention of really using it, but it’s good for practice.”

You know what they say: If it works, it works.

Thomas will tee off at the Plantation Course at 5:45 p.m. ET alongside Xander Schauffele.