"I'll putt with a shoe if it means I'II make everything" - Justin Thomas on using a Scotty Cameron prototype Phantom X9 shaft at the 3M Open

Justin Thomas got off to a good start at the 2023 3M Open Championship, finishing the first round at 2 under par. He shot 69 with three birdies and one bogey in the first round.

Thomas has made changes to his bag for this week's event. He has a counterbalance putter in his bag, which helped him to improve his performance at the 3M Open. He is using a Scotty Cameron prototype Phantom X9 with a 38-inch counterbalance.

The American golfer stated in a press conference on Thursday that he utilized counterbalance during his rookie year and even used it in the practice round prior to the tournament's start. He believes it has a lot of speed and will help him make some long shots this week.

"It's a counterbalance," Thomas said. "I used a counterbalance my rookie year for a little bit and I pulled really, really solid with it in that kind of short range, it was just the speed with the longer ones. And in practice it was great, my speed was great. I guess it's the hot thing right now. I've always said, I mean, I'll putt, with a shoe if it means I'll make everything as long as it's a Scotty Cameron shoe."

"You know, it's something I am comfortable with. Obviously toyed back and forth just because of where we're at in the season, but at the end of the day I'm obviously going to play with what I feel like is going to give me the best chance for success and good play, and that's what I did and I still have faith in it," he added.

@JustinThomas34 has a new counter-balanced putter in the bag this week.

He's off to a nice start at 2-under after his opening round @3MOpen. pic.twitter.com/mP9BVuVgJT

Justin Thomas finished in 46th place following the opening round. He will resume his game on Friday, July 28, six strokes behind the leader Lee Hodges at 8:29 am ET with Gary Woodland and Joel Dahmen.

What's in Justin Thomas's bag?

Justin Thomas' most of the golf gear is from Titleist. He uses a Titleist TSR3 driver, Titleist TS3 3-wood, Titleist TS3 5-wood, Titleist T100 irons, and Titleist Vokey design raw wedges. He uses Scotty Cameron's putter and FootJoy gloves and shoes.

Here is a list of equipment Justin Thomas carries in his bag:

Driver

Specification: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees at 9.25) with Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60 TX shaft

3-wood

Specification:: Titleist TS3 (15 degrees, A1 setting) with Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Blue 85 TX shaft

5-wood

Specification:: Titleist 915Fd (18 degrees at 19.5, B3 setting) with Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 9.2 Tour Spec X shaft
Utility: Titleist U500 (2-iron) with KBS Tour Hybrid Proto 95X shaft

Irons

Specification: Titleist T100 (4-iron), Titleist 621.JT (5-9 iron), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts

Wedges

Specification: Titleist Vokey Design Raw SM9 (46-10F at 47.5 degrees, 52-12F, 56-14F at 57 degrees), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks (60T at 60.5 degrees)

Putter

Specification: Scotty Cameron T-5 Prototype

Ball

Specification: Titleist Pro V1x

Shoes

Specification: FootJoy Premiere Series Tarlow

Glove

Specification: FootJoy Pure Touch