By E. Michael Johnson
Justin Thomas followed a solid recipe for winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone C.C.’s South Course: hit it far off the tee and then hit a bunch of greens in regulation. In fact, six of the prior 10 winners of the event were in the top-12 in distance and top-10 in greens in regulation. Thomas followed suit, averaging a hefty 329.3 yards per measured drive (ranked 12th) and 75.0 percent of his greens (ranked T-2) to win the last playing of the event at Firestone by four strokes over Kyle Stanley.

Off the tee Thomas uses Titleist’s new TS3 driver, a club he put in play the first week it was on the USGA’s Conforming List of Driver Heads at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock. According to Titleist tour rep JJ VanWezenbeeck, a fitting session with Thomas prior to the Players in May showed the 9.5-degree TS3 gave the reigning PGA champ better ball speeds along with a desirable launch-to-spin ratio. The numbers so good Thomas even gave the drive its own code name, playing off the TS designation. Thomas referred to the driver as “The S**t,” which in golf slang is high praise, indeed. As if further validation was needed, Thomas’ 394-yard blast on the final hole Sunday seemed to verify his code name for the club. Thomas made one modest tweak at the Open Championship, shortening the shaft one-eighth of an inch to help with centering the hit and maximizing control.

Into the greens, Thomas utilises a split set of irons, with Titleist’s A718 P2 serving as his 4-iron while the company’s 718 MB make up the bulk of the remainder of his set. His pitching wedge—as is increasingly the norm on the PGA Tour—matches his other wedges as opposed to his irons, as it is Titleist’s Vokey SM6 model. The 46-degree club has the company’s F grind and 8 degrees of bounce. The grips are Golf Pride’s Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord 58 round with one wrap of two-way tape underneath.

What Justin Thomas had in the bag at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: Titleist TS3 (Mitsubishi Diamana BF 60TX), 9.5 degrees
3-wood: Titleist TS3, 15 degrees
5-wood: Titleist 915Fd, 18 degrees
Irons (4): Titleist AP2; (5-9): Titleist MB; (PW): Titleist Vokey SM6
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM5 (52 degrees); Titleist Vokey SM6 (56, 60 degrees)
Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist X5

The post The clubs Justin Thomas used to win the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

According to the Commercial Appeal, the tour will hold a press conference this Thursday to announce Memphis will host a World Golf Championships event, starting in 2019. Scheduled to be at the event are tour commissioner Jay Monahan and FedEx Cup winner Justin Thomas.

The announcement is not a surprise; Golf Digest reported in December that, when FedEx re-upped its sponsorship of the tour’s playoffs through 2027, the courier delivery services company insisted on a WGC competition in its Memphis backyard. The area currently hosts the St. Jude Classic, which often attracts only a handful of marquee names because of its spot the week prior to the U.S. Open.

The upshot is that Firestone C.C., home to the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, will lose its spot on the tour schedule. “It’s over,” a source told Golf Digest, when asked about any future PGA Tour prospects. Golf Digest contributor John Feinstein reported early this winter that the Senior PGA Championship may come to Akron in 2019 as a replacement event.

The PGA Tour is set to roll out the new schedule in the second week of May, with the PGA Championship moving to May and Players returning to March being a focal point of the release, along with a shift of the FedEx Cup playoffs to end before the NFL season gets in full swing. Other balls in the air regard the fates of the National and Houston Open. Both are without title sponsors, and with the Valero Texas Open expected to take Houston’s pre-Masters spot, these two events may not return. The Dell Technologies Championship, a FedEx Cup event since 2003, may also be a schedule casualty.

However, the Colonial, despite lacking long-term endorsement, is not envisioned to dissolve.

Another storyline to watch is the formation of a new PGA Tour event in Michigan or Minnesota. The tour has been pitched a proposal from a Detroit group, while the organizers who run the Champions’ 3M Championship at the TPC Twin Cities have made their attentions known of gaining a regular tour event.

The post PGA Tour expected to announce 2019 WGC event in Memphis this Thursday; Firestone set to lose Bridgestone Invitational appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.