Justin Thomas Credits Xander Schauffele for his Improved Performance with the Flat Stick

Last season, Justin Thomas’ putter was ice-cold. He ranked 174th in Strokes Gained: Putting (-.487). Still, he managed to finish inside the top 10 six times in 2024 but wasn’t able to get one across the finish line for a W.

But through 10 starts this season, Thomas is up to 24th on the PGA TOUR in SG: Putting and that’s resulted in five top-10 finishes already and finally a win Sunday at the RBC Heritage, his first since the 2022 PGA Championship.

So, what led to this breakout with the flat stick? A conversation with two-time major champion Xander Schauffele.

It started with a phone call at the end of last year, and because Schauffele is known for being one of the best fundamental putters in the world, Thomas wanted to pick his brain.

“He came out with me, and he just was asking me a bunch of different questions. You guys obviously know Xander, but he doesn't leave any box unchecked. He's going to—like he said that day, he's like, ‘if it has anything to do with you potentially improving in golf, I've probably done it or tried it,’” Thomas said/.

Schauffele explained his process, how he reads greens, how he sees things, and how he practices.

“He would kind of ask something and I was like, ‘yeah, I used to do that.’ And then he was like, ‘well, how about something like this. Like, I used to use the string line here.’ Okay. The more I was talking, I'm like, ‘I don't do any of the things that I used to do in my best putting years.’ ”

Thomas explained that back in 2017 and 2018, he was very regimented when it came to putting practice. He also encompassed eight of his 16 career wins in those two seasons. Since then, Thomas realized after chatting with Shauffele that he’d lost his “home base” of fundamentals.

“So it honestly, while he helped, it was more of the questions he asked me made me realize that I'm trying basically too hard and I'm trying too many different things versus I think it's a serious, serious, serious skill to continue to work on the things that you do really well and not doing it differently, and I think that's been more of what it is. I have my fundamentals and things that I do and checkpoints, and I'm sticking to them.”

Photo: Getty Images

In a few weeks, Thomas will head back to Quail Hollow to “defend” the PGA Championship title he claimed in Charlotte in 2017. If he keeps playing like this, there’s a chance we’ll get a Thomas-Rory McIlroy battle.

Why do I say that? Well, McIlroy’s won there four times and is playing the best golf of his career. I couldn’t think of a better showdown than that.

Please let it happen. I need it.