Justin Thomas is one of the best on the PGA Tour when it comes to shots from 120 yards and in.
Thomas is ranked fifth in approaches from 125-150 yards this season and seventh in the 100-125 category.
The 32-year-old spends more time working on shots from those distances than he does any other part of his game.
Thomas recently admitted that he is obsessed with improving his golf, sometimes to the detriment of his social life.
However, that’s probably why he has become such a good player over the years.
The Ryder Cup hopeful returned to the winners’ circle this season, with a victory at the RBC Heritage in April.
That said, Thomas’s performances in the majors continue to be a concern. That’s nothing that a lot of hard work won’t fix, though.
Justin Thomas admits he does something ‘weird’ and ‘strange’
Thomas has been in poor form recently, but it’s still a joy to watch him hit his wedges.
There is nobody better in the game at controlling their distances than the man from Kentucky.
When talking about exactly that, Thomas opened up on the system that he uses.
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
“I spend a lot of time yeah, obviously it depends on different courses as to how often, but yeah, I hit a lot of shots in that range, so I do a lot of work on trackman to get my yardages as exact as I possibly can type thing.
“I don’t do a clock system, it’s kind of strange, but I generally feel like I take it back as short as I can to hit it that specific distance. It’s weird, but I feel like because of that, I’m able to have the same acceleration all the time.”
Thomas’s method obviously relies a lot on feel and repetition, and he pulls off the shots he wants with his wedges more often than not.
Why Collin Morikawa is ahead of Justin Thomas in Ryder Cup ‘lock list’
Smylie Kaufman shares his belief that Collin Morikawa is clear of Thomas right now, when it comes to the so-called ‘locks’ for the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
And he explained the one reason why he thinks that is.
Kaufman explained: “Yeah, it’s Scottie, Bryson, Xander. I know Xander hasn’t had the year that he’s been looking for, but his length is such a dang asset at this place. Of course, he’s a two-time major champion last year.
“So Scottie, Bryson, and Xander, and then Collin Morikawa would be the fourth guy. I know we just talked about it for 20 minutes about how we’re looking for continuity from the guy, but this is the… I mean, he’s your ace in the hole when it comes to just precise iron game.
Kaufman was then asked why he put Morikawa above Justin Thomas in his top four ‘locks’ for the Ryder Cup.
“Yeah, just because of JT’s major record.
“Yeah. I think that’s a huge knock against his profile. He’s played really, really well over the last couple of years, but the majors have been a big time bug of his, which is the most comparable type of pressure that you can compare it to.“
He has a T-36 at the Masters and two missed cuts in the other two majors this season.
The main point here is that Thomas will be on the Ryder Cup team in September, there is no doubt about that.
However, he would love to start showing some real form over the next couple of months.