Playing for Harvey relief, Lewis takes lead

ATLANTA – After torching Medinah en route to a 3-stroke victory at the 2019 BMW Championship, and heading into the TOUR Championship with a 2-stroke lead, Justin Thomas switched driver shafts. Thomas had been using a Mitsubishi Diamana BF 60TX shaft in his Titleist drivers since 2017, the year he won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. Even when he switched into a new TS3 driver (9.5 degrees) in 2018, it was still equipped with that same shaft. After winning the 2019 BMW Championship, however, Thomas was spotted by PGATOUR.COM on Wednesday at the TOUR Championship testing a new Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60TX shaft in his driver. Thomas played a 9-hole practice on Wednesday using the new ZF shaft, then afterwards took off to the range to test the ZF against his old BF shaft. Apparently, he liked what he saw from the new ZF shaft, since Thomas put the shaft in play on Thursday. According to Mitsubishi, the company that makes both his old driver shaft and his new one, the ZF-series shafts “build on the success� of the BF-series shafts. The ZF shafts use a combination of MR-70 carbon fiber and Boron fiber to create a shaft that’s stronger in the tip and butt sections but softer in the middle of the shaft. This creates “better energy transfer and acceleration,� according to Mitsubishi. “Diamana ZF-series takes the signature ‘smooth’ bend profile that makes our BF-series the shaft of choice for so many players and pushes it in just the right places,� said Mark Gunther, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Mitsubishi, in a press release. “The result is a profile that makes ZF a little more explosive and easier to accelerate.� While Thomas has opted for the 60TX version of the ZF, like he did with his BF-series shafts, the new ZF will be available to the public in options ranging from 40 grams up to 80 grams in various flexes. They hit retail on September 13 selling for $400. Related: Full equipment Q&A with Justin Thomas

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Here are nine tidbits from the third round of A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. The Old White TPC at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia hosts for the eighth time and measures 7,287 yards and plays to Par-70. Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO. With temperatures in dipping into the 70’s the breeze blowing, The Old White TPC showed its teeth, to a degree, in Round 3. After giving up a round of 61 in the first two rounds the lowest total on moving day was just 65. The track and the greens both firmed up nicely and there’s hardly a wonder why the top 10 was turned upside down. The Final Pairing Kelly Kraft has never held the 36-hole lead before and now he’s never lost it. He’ll want to forget he played the three holes in two-over par as he saw his three-shot lead evaporate as he shares the 54-hole lead. The good news is he finished the day in red numbers (69) and he’s 13-under on the Par-4 holes. He’ll be playing alongside another looking for win No. 1 on TOUR, Harold Varner, III, so that should help both of them relax. Varner’s last bogey was 39 holes ago as he posted 66 after 64 in Round 2 to share the lead. The last time we checked in with Varner he was putting all four rounds under-par at TPC Sawgrass for T7, his only top 10 of the year. He’ll be looking to join the first-timers club in the winner’s circle tomorrow. He closed with 67 last year in much different circumstances. Na-ht Out of It Kevin Na backed up his 63 in Round 2 with the co-low round of the day, 65, in Round 3 and sits just one back of the lead. He’ll have no problem stalking two players who have never won as he looks to pick up his first win since 2011. He closed with 61 at Trinity Forest for solo fourth at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May and his only top 10 here was posting 65 in 2012. Country Roads, Take Me Home Bubba Watson isn’t worried about stats or trends and shouldn’t be as well as he’s playing. He’s never led this week so he can join the previous seven winners in keeping that streak alive if he does the business tomorrow. He matched the low round of the day on Saturday with 65 as he led the field in SG: off the tee, tee to green, driving distance and proximity. He fired 63 on Sunday his last time out to win the Travelers so I’m not going to be surprised with another low one tomorrow! Mountain Climbing Tony Finau is looking to keep up his momentum going at The Old White TPC. His worst round of 11 is 69 and his best is 66 so I’m not surprised with his trio of 67’s this week. His third one of 2018 moved him up 10 spots to T14 as he looks to best his T7 from last year. He was second to Watson in the first three categories listed above and third in proximity. He’ll need to make a few tomorrow to get back into the top 10. I’m not betting against him as he’s T4 in birdies for the week. The Defending Champ All the talk of coming from behind to win is great but I’ll also point out that nobody has successfully defended either. Xander Schauffele doesn’t care about any stats or streaks as he became the first rookie to win The TOUR Championship last year. He’ll gladly take his chances on a course he loves as his 65 today pushes his two-year total to 27-under in seven rounds. Moving Day For the second week in a row Bronson Burgoon has forced himself into the conversation with a big round on Saturday. And for the second Saturday running it’s a 65 on Par-70 layout that’s put him in the mix. Last week he backed it up with 67 for his first top-10 TOUR finish and a trip to Carnoustie. He’ll have to feel like he’s playing with house money on Sunday as he moved up 24 spots, the most into the top 10. … J.T. Poston went out early and posted the first 65 of the as he jumped 42 spots to T18. … Brandon Harkins continues to rumble as well as his 66 leapfrogged 39 players to T21. Moving Day: Wrong Way Webb Simpson (T2) and Whee Kim (T5) both shared the worst round of the day with matching 76’s. Simpson dropped 28 spots to T30 while Kim plummeted 43 spots to T48. Simpson’s rough day affected more gamers than Kim’s to say the least. … The next step for cut-maker extraordinaire Tyler Duncan is putting together two solid WEEKEND rounds. He’s made nine cuts in a row but he dropped 52 places from T8 to T60 after 75 Saturday. I’ll keep reminding everyone that he’s a rookie playing his 26th event. Study Hall Saturday’s scoring average was the most difficult of the week but still played under-par at 69.753 (-0.247). Round 1 was 69.340 (-0.660) and Round 2 went lower at 68.636 (-1.364) before the correction in Round 3. … Varner has the cleanest card of week so far with just two bogeys and zero others. … Ollie Schniederjans (T14) has circled the most birdies thus far with 19 but has eight bogeys and a double to go with them. … Every player inside the top 10 SG: approach the green is in the top 21 save for Simpson. … Every player inside the top 10 SG: putting is T21 or better as well. … Only Varner and John Peterson (T38) played bogey-free golf in Round 3. Check yesterday’s Emergency 9 for more info on Peterson.

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A significant change helped Justin Thomas have success in his last start before The Open Championship. Thomas was one of several big names to play the Scottish Open in preparation for this week’s major at Royal St. George’s. He has struggled on the links in his career, but he finished T8 in Scotland for his first top-10 since winning THE PLAYERS Championship in March. A T11 in the 2019 Open Championship is his lone top-50 in four appearances in The Open Championship. At the Scottish Open, he swapped out his Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 putter for a new Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5 Tour prototype featuring what the company calls a “knuckle neck.” The change comes after an inconsistent period on the greens for Thomas, who ranks 107th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season. In fact, Thomas has ranked outside the top 100 in that statistic in each of the past three seasons. The new flatstick came together after a recent trip to the Scotty Cameron Putter Studio in Encinitas, California. It combines a Phantom X 5.5 head, which is a similar head shape to his previous Futura X5 model, with a prototype knuckle neck akin to a Scotty Cameron Newport 2. The knuckle neck is Scotty Cameron’s version of the traditional plumber’s neck design. The knuckle neck is more rounded than the flat plumber’s neck golfers are accustomed to seeing, but it also features one shaft width of offset for ease of alignment. According to Scotty Cameron TOUR rep Drew Page, after adjusting the neck lengths, Thomas was able to find a more consistent stroke pattern with his new gamer. “JT’s had incredible success the last five years with his Futura X5.5 … but he had been thinking lately about experimenting with a slightly different look,” Page said. “We took the Phantom X 5 head shape he loves and gave it a Newport 2-style neck which he’s also used in the past. He tested it at a few different neck lengths and was able to find a setup that was giving him a more consistent stroke pattern with that little bit different visual and the same feel that he’s used to.” Thomas, who used a blade-style putter early in his career, had been using his Phantom X 5.5, which features a high-MOI (moment of inertia, a measure of a club’s resistance to twisting) wingback Phantom X design paired with a welded small slant neck to promote an arced putting stroke more commonly associated with blade designs. The new knuckle-necked Phantom X 5.5 features slightly less toe hang than his previous gamer and worked effectively in Scotland where Thomas putted well on his way to his first top-10 finish in four months. For reference, toe hang is a toe-weighted or toe-balanced putters. A putter with more toe hang is better suited to an arcing stroke, whereas a face-balanced putter works better for a straight-back, straight-through motion.

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