How meeting Gordon Sargent at a gas station led Justin Thomas to switch putters at the Memorial

Justin Thomas is fueled up with a new Scotty Cameron prototype at the 2024 Memorial Tournament after meeting up with Gordon Sargent – the No. 1 ranked amateur golfer in the world – at a local gas station.

Here's how it all went down.

Since 2016, Thomas has mostly been a mallet putter user. He had a brief stint at the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions with a Scotty Cameron blade putter he used back in high school, but aside from that, Thomas has favored Scotty Cameron’s dual-winged X5 Tour and T5 Proto head models.

Recently, however, Thomas was texting with Paul Vizanko (Director of Scotty Cameron Putter Fitting and Player Development), and Thomas explained what he was thinking, seeing and feeling on the putting greens of late. Thomas is currently ranked 159th in Strokes Gained: Putting on the PGA TOUR, so maybe it was time for a change.

After hearing Thomas’ thought processes, Vizanko suggested that Thomas might actually like a custom putter build that he previously made for Sargent.

Sargent is entering his Senior year at Vanderbilt University, but he’s no ordinary college student. He’s currently the No. 1-ranked Men’s amateur golfer in the world according to the World Amateur Golf Rankings, and he’s already competed in four PGA TOUR events, including the 2023 Masters and the 2023 U.S. Open. He also won the 2022 Men’s Division I Individual Championship.

Thomas, who says he has gotten to know Sargent in recent years, reached out to Sargent via text prior to the Memorial.

Thomas needed a putter, and Sargent – according to Vizanko – might have his answer.

Since Sargent and Thomas live within driving distance to each other in Alabama, they met up at a local gas station to make the hand-off.

“I texted Gordon [about using the putter], and he said he wasn’t using it, so I could have it,” Thomas told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at Muirfield Village Golf Club. “I’ve gotten to know Gordon some…so we met up at a gas station to make the transfer.”

What makes Sargent’s putter so unique are the alignment marks, which feature a single dot nearest the golf ball at address, plus a line running parallel to the topline.

On Tuesday at the Memorial, GolfWRX.com spotted Thomas testing out the putter that Thomas picked up at the gas station.

While on-site at the Memorial for his practice rounds and testing sessions, Thomas eventually had a new prototype putter built, inspired by the shape and alignment features of Sargent’s putter.

Not to get confused with Sargent’s putter, Thomas’ new custom putter has “J.T.” stamped on the sole, except the “T” font is Titleist’s famous script.

According to Thomas, he’s keeping Sargent’s putter around as his backup, and giving it a go this week at the Memorial with the newly-made Scotty Cameron G.S.S. (German Stainless Steel) prototype.