Five questions about new world No. 1 Jon Rahm's equipment

2022 U.S. Open, Round 2 Top 10 win probabilities: 1. Rory McIlroy (T3, -4, 16.8%) 2. Jon Rahm (T3, -4, 13.7%) 3. Scottie Scheffler (T8, -3, 12.2%) 4. Collin Morikawa (T1, -5, 11.3%) 5. Aaron Wise (T3, -4, 6.3%) 6. Joel Dahmen (T1, -5, 5.2%) 7. Matthew Fitzpatrick (T13, -2, 4.4%) 8. Sam Burns (T13, -2, 3.4%) 9. Beau Hossler (T3, -4, 2.8%) 10. Brian Harman (T8, -3, 2.4%) NOTE: These reports are based off of the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live “Make Cut”, “Top 20”, “Top 5”, and “Win” probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 20K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of the U.S. Open, or to see how each golfer’s probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model’s home page.

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OVERVIEW Justin Thomas spent the off-season testing new Titleist equipment; following Alabama football; tweeting about Tiger-versus-Phil; and looking forward to his new role as co-executive producer, with Rickie Fowler, of Golf Channel’s next installment of the college golf documentary Driven. When it’s time to lace up his spikes, though, you get the sense he’ll be ready. Thomas, 25, is coming off a season in which he won three times and made a deep run in the FedExCup Playoffs as he tried to become the first player to successfully defend his FedExCup title since its inception in 2007. He might have done it, too, but for a minor injury. Thomas “tweakedâ€� (his word) his right wrist on the 13th hole of the final round of the BMW Championship; taped it; worked only on his short game in the off-week; and could manage only a T7 at the TOUR Championship, leaving him 7th in the final FedExCup standings. Still, it was a strong effort; apart from week one of the season, he never dropped below ninth. “Anytime you win three times in a season, it’s still a pretty good season,â€� Thomas said at the CIMB Classic in October, when he finished T5 to kick off the 2018-19 season. “Obviously not winning a major was a big difference and not winning the FedExCup, but I played plenty well enough last year to win the same amount of times.â€� If there was a tournament he let slip through his fingers, it was the World Golf Championship-Mexico Championship, where he bogeyed the 172-yard 17th to lose to Phil Mickelson. – By Cameron Morfit Click here to see who else made the Top 30 list. BY THE NUMBERS FEDEXCUP UPDATE Current 2018-19 position: 63rd Playoff appearances: 4 TOUR Championship appearances: 3 Best FedExCup result: Won the FedExCup in the 2016-17 season SHOTLINK FUN FACT Justin Thomas ranked third last season in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, outperforming the PGA TOUR field by +0.880 strokes per round. INSIDER INSIGHTS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Justin Thomas in 2019. TOUR INSIDER: Thomas is an exceptionally good iron player; his challenge now will be to elevate the other parts of his game from very good to great in order to match his iron play. His other challenge will be to reconfigure his goals after winning his first major (2017 PGA Championship), first WGC (WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and first Presidents Cup over the last two seasons. The guess here is he’ll come up with something. — By Cameron Morfit FANTASY INSIDER: A year ago in this space (when he sat No. 1 fresh off winning the FedExCup), I advised caution in weekly formats due to his tendency to hit and miss more often than his peers. Not long thereafter, he cited himself that he wanted to eliminate the inconsistency. It sounded good in theory and gamers are all for improvement no matter the talent, but it’s still cringe-worthy because it can be like fixing what’s not broken. JT is a winner, pure and simple, but there are times when he’s just not feelin’ it, so be prepared to roll with those punches. He still warrants consideration to go first overall in draft leagues. — By Rob Bolton EQUIPMENT INSIDER: Thomas doesn’t tinker too much, but he was quick to switch into a new Titleist TS3 driver (9.5 degrees, with a Mitsubishi Diamana BF 60TX shaft) and a new Titleist TS3 fairway wood (Mitsubishi Tensei CK Blue 80TX shaft). The rest of his bag includes a 718 AP2 4-iron, 718 MB irons (5-9), his familiar Vokey SM5 (56 degrees) and SM6 wedges (48, 52 and 60 degrees) wedges, and the Scotty Cameron Circle T X5 putter he’s been playing since 2017. With a bag full of Titleist clubs, he also uses Titleist’s Pro V1x golf ball. Anytime Thomas decides to make a switch in 2019, whether it’s clubs, shafts or golf ball, it will be news. — By Andrew Tursky STYLE INSIDER: JT continues to hit all the right fashion notes. He excels at balancing the traditions of the game with classic threads and custom old school brogues with new school designs and fits. Look for Thomas to remain one of the best dressed players in the game in 2019. — By Greg Monteforte

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ST. LOUIS – How effectively the chase pack can reel in leader Brooks Koepka (66, 12 under) in the final round of the 100th PGA Championship may depend on what’s left in the tank. Koepka leads second-place Adam Scott (65) by two shots, and they will go off in the last twosome at 2:55 ET Sunday. Both played just 18 holes Saturday, while others endured a marathon day after a thunderstorm chased them off the course the day before. Shane Lowry (69, 8 under) woke up at 4:30 a.m., and others had a similarly early rise to resume their second rounds. Rounding up, Rickie Fowler (69, 9 under) played 27 holes, Jason Day (67, 8 under) sweated out 28, and Tiger Woods (66, 8 under) and Justin Thomas (68, 8 under) endured 29. “I’m tired,â€� Woods said. “I am definitely tired. … It’s not necessarily the physical, it’s this mentally grinding that hard for 29 holes in this heat. It was a long day. “I’m done with the golf side of it today,â€� he added. “I’ve had enough.â€� Majors are always exhausting, and the heat and humidity at Bellerive had already taken a toll even before what turned into an exceptionally long Saturday. Now the question is who, if anyone, can summon the energy for a come-from-behind victory Sunday? “I think it starts tonight, being able to hydrate,â€� Day said. “If the guys that came this morning and played a certain amount of holes, they definitely need the recovery because it’s going to be difficult to recover fully from what we did today. … Once it gets hot and you start thinking about the heat and how hot it is, then you start making mental errors.â€� Koepka leads by three over Fowler, Gary Woodland (71) and Jon Rahm (66), and there are six players at 8 under, four back, led by Woods, Day and defending PGA and FedExCup champion Thomas. That much of a lead promises to be formidable for a player like Koepka, who at times has manhandled Bellerive and came into this week brimming with confidence after having won the last two U.S. Opens. “For some reason I can really tune in in the majors,â€� he said, “and I have no idea why.â€� How important is stamina here? Woods has played the front nine in 10 under this week, but the back in 2 over. His shocking three-putt for par at 17 Saturday, giving him a deflating par after eying an eagle chance from just under 20 feet, typified his struggles. He’s not the only one who has struggled on the back. Koepka shot 5 under on the front Saturday, but 1 over on the back. This, despite the fact that he actually believes the back is the easier nine. “I think the back nine’s actually more gettable,â€� he said. Fatigue is playing a factor, which is why it may be so important that he is one of the freshest golfers, having to play just 18 holes each day. He is already possessed of a physicality and stamina that sets him apart. Every day this week Koepka has gone to Lifetime Fitness, a way to stay in shape while also giving him something to do before late-afternoon tee times. “Today I was in there with Dustin and everybody wanted a picture with Dustin,â€� Koepka said. “They were talking about him as we left and I was just standing there laughing. They were like, ‘Did you see that No. 1 player in the world was here?’ It’s like, yeah, okay.â€� Koepka smiled. “I don’t know what to say to that. It was like, all right.â€� Making his 100th start on the PGA TOUR, Koepka would be just the fifth player to win the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in the same year. In other words, he won’t be going under the radar for much longer. The plan for Sunday is more of the same, starting with Lifetime Fitness. “Probably wake up about 6 o’clock, have breakfast, wait a little bit, chill, and go to the gym,â€� he said of his plan for Sunday. “Same routine I did this morning. By the time — the gym’s kind of like a little getaway for me, especially when you got these late tee times.â€� The plan for everyone else? Hydrate. Try to take advantage of the par 5s and sprinkle in a few birdies on the rest of the holes. Keep the big numbers off the scorecard. And then hope. “It just depends on Brooks,â€� Lowry said. “He could go out and shoot 4- or 5-under tomorrow, and that’s the end of the rest of us.â€�

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