Justin Thomas has not oversold his comeback at any point this season. Now at Quail Hollow, two shots off the lead on the moving day, he has the positive attitude that he had at the PLAYERS Championship. Additionally, he also knows what is holding him back.

“I’m not sure. I don’t feel like it’s anything lingering from surgery. I felt really good, to be honest,” Justin Thomas told the media. “It’s not one of those things that once you feel good, you’re like, ‘Okay, great, I’m in the clear.’ Obviously, you have to stay on top of it.” Instead, he pointed elsewhere: “My wedges are nowhere close to as sharp as I would like them.”

Justin Thomas underwent a microdiscectomy in mid-November of last year and spent months unable to train normally. He only began to hit wedges and short irons by late January 2026 and received full clearance for all golf activities on February 10. The numbers back up what he’s describing.

His Strokes Gained: Approach sits at roughly -0.142 per round this season, well outside the top 100 on Tour, a steep drop from 0.325 in 2025. Still, the bigger picture is difficult to ignore. After returning for the Florida swing in early 2026, he finished eighth at THE PLAYERS Championship, sitting near the top of the leaderboard through the first two rounds just four months post-surgery. He wrote on X at the time, expressing his happiness.

“With this past Friday being 4 months post-surgery, I’m very proud of myself for being back in contention again.”

Now at the Truist Championship, Thomas shot 67 and 68 to sit third through 36 holes. He is two shots off Sungjae Im’s lead. He finished T2 here in 2025 and T14 in 2023. Surprisingly, this is the club where he won the 2017 PGA Championship at the same course. When asked if comfort on the course translates to results, he was measured.

“I am comfortable out here; that doesn’t obviously just mean that you’re going to play it well. But I know how to play it.”

JT’s results this season tell a mixed but encouraging story. A missed cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, T23 at the Cadillac Championship, T30 at the Valspar Championship, T77 at the RBC Heritage, and a T41 at the Masters. The approach stats from the data tracker bear that out, as his off-the-tee numbers and overall ball-striking have been pretty good, but the wedge sharpness is still a work in progress.

Justin Thomas knows what needs fixing and is not hiding from it. “We’ll get there hopefully sooner rather than later,” he said.

Notably, the 2x major champion is ensuring he gets everything back on track, even if it means borrowing a putter!

Equipment changes reflected Justin Thomas’ push to regain sharpness

Justin Thomas did not overthink the putter switch. He texted Scotty Cameron rep Drew Page asking for exactly what Young was using and received the Phantom 9.5R Tour Prototype on Monday, then spent the first two rounds paired alongside Young himself, accidentally matching shoes on Thursday too.

But it was worth the awkwardness. Thomas was 19th in Strokes Gained: Putting in Round 1 and sixth in Round 2 at Quail Hollow, a dramatic turnaround for someone who entered the week ranked 152nd on Tour in SG: Putting, losing 0.605 shots across the season.

Young’s success with the same putter made the choice an easy one. Young switched to the Phantom 9.5R at the beginning of 2025 and moved up from 145th in SG: Putting to seventh. Now he is leading the FedExCup and third in the world rankings, with a PLAYERS title and a six-shot Cadillac Championship win in 2026.

Justin Thomas acknowledged the game he was playing. “I promise I’m not trying to copy everything you do,” he joked to Young on Friday before adding, “But I’m maybe trying to copy everything you do.”

At T3 with 36 holes remaining, the copy is working.