Inside Justin Thomas’ major equipment shakeups at the Masters

Justin Thomas left no stone unturned in his Masters preparations. Still seeking his first green jacket, Thomas' bag underwent much experimentation before his ninth appearance at Augusta National. It will result in a new-look setup for Thomas at the year’s first major.

The testing began at the Valspar Championship, where Thomas and Titleist Tour rep J.J. Van Wezenbeeck evaluated the irons that Thomas has used since the 2023 U.S. Open.

For years, Thomas has used a set of ultra-custom 621.JT blade irons (4-9 iron), but before the 2023 U.S. Open, Thomas changed his 4-iron blade for a slightly more forgiving T100 model with cavity-back construction. The added forgiveness of the T100 4-iron worked, and it has been in the bag ever since.

Ahead of the Valspar, Thomas began testing a T100 5-iron, too.

According to Van Wezenbeeck, Thomas liked what he saw, with the club providing added height and forgiveness, especially on shots hit low on the face.

The only problem was distance gapping. Thomas was hitting his 5-iron 4-5 yards further, leaving the gap between his 5-iron and 4-iron too tight.

That led Thomas and Van Wezenbeeck to test an even more forgiving Titleist T200 4-iron model, which produced even more forgiveness across the face with its hollow-bodied design and a higher launch and peak height. Now, Thomas has a longer 5-iron and an even longer 4-iron in the bag. Problem solved.

With that change to his iron set, Thomas has a newfound combination: Titleist 621.JT mid-to-short irons (6-9), a T100 5-iron and a T200 4-iron.

Although Thomas currently ranks sixth on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach, he is just 134th on approaches more than 200 yards. Perhaps the boost in forgiveness and added height will be the difference maker.

Thomas’ equipment changes at the Masters do not end there, though.

After working with Scotty Cameron rep Drew Page throughout 2024 on putter testing, Thomas is switching into a new 2024 Phantom X 5.5 putter, which first launched in Hawaii

According to Page, Thomas liked the look of the new Phantom X model, but he preferred a slightly different sound off the face. After a few months of back and forth, making minor manipulations to the putter head, Thomas is set to give the new putter a go on Thursday, replacing his previous X5 Tour model with a similar dual-winged shape.

On Sunday at the Valspar, Thomas switched into a prototype Titleist TSR 2-wood, the same club Cameron Young was spotted testing at THE PLAYERS Championship. According to Van Wezenbeeck, Thomas wanted to try out the prototype in live competition before considering putting it into play at the Masters.

Although Thomas liked the performance of the 2-wood, he will likely stick with his trusty TS 3-wood come competition time on Thursday. That said, the possibility of a mid-event switch is in play. As recent history shows, Thomas is not afraid to switch things up on short notice – especially with a green jacket on the line.