Justin Thomas discovered some much-needed kind forward of the Ryder Cup as he shot a second spherical 67 within the Fortinet Championship.
Sadith Theegala shot a second spherical 64 to tie SH Kim at 12-under-par on prime of the leaderboard.
But it’s the presence of Thomas, winless on the PGA Tour this season and reliant on a wildcard decide from Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson, 4 strokes again in a tie for sixth which caught the attention.
Having hit simply three fairways in a gap 69, Thomas switched to an extended driver he has been experimenting with in latest weeks.
“I could tell in one video I was getting stuck underneath it,” stated the double Major winner, who hit eight fairways within the second spherical. “If I drive it like I did today, I’ll use it for the rest of my career.
“I had a good thought from just a little 10-minute range session that I felt like could get me through today and it worked pretty well.
“That’s a part of what I think has made me as successful as I’ve been in my career, I’ve been very good at adjusting on the fly.”
Thomas’ fellow Ryder Cup participant Max Home was amongst these tied with him on eight-under par, one higher than a bunch together with English dup Callum Tarren and Harry Hall.
US Ryder Cup captain Johnson was amongst these to overlook the reduce.