The stats at TPC Craig Ranch told Michael Thorbjornsen what he already knew: The short game was holding him back.
Missing the cut at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson despite an opening-round 64, the 24-year-old switched putters and is already seeing immediate results sitting tied for second after 36 holes at Colonial thanks to carding a 5-under 65 on Friday.
“Whole new putter, needed something different,” he told reporters after his second round at the Charles Schwab Challenge. “It’s a new grip, it’s a new kind of hosel, and it’s a new face as well. It’s the putter that I basically used in college.”
He explained that the move to the smaller-gripped Spider X having helps him with pace and speed.
“I normally like to take pride in my ability to make those putts, just with the proper pace and being able to see the line really well — I was kind of losing that a little bit,” Thorbjornsen said. “Now these past couple days I feel like I’ve made my fair share of those putts that kind of feel normal to me in a way.”
It’s a welcome rebound for the Stanford alum who is a two-time runner-up on Tour and seeking his first tournament victory. More importantly — at least in the short term — Thorbjornsen sits No. 75 in the Official World Golf Ranking and doesn’t have many avenues remaining to qualify for the U.S. Open.
Winning in Fort Worth would make that worry null and void. As high as he can finish is good, too. He still has the Canadian Open in two weeks to get inside the top 60. There’s an outside chance he gets to play at Muirfield Village next week through the Tour’s Aon Swing 5.
And there’s also a spot through the Final Qualifying on June 8.
“Whether I’m in contention or just scraping by to make a cut, it’s always nice to play the weekend,” Thorbjornsen said. “Obviously I’m here to try my best to win, but that can’t be the goal. You have to focus on just playing good golf and focusing on how your game can improve week in, week out, year after year, season after season. So I hope to be out here for a very long time and just hope to get better each and every day. And if I see that progress, then I’ll be happy with kind of where my game is at and where I’m at in my career.”
‘Slap in the face’
Thorbjornsen, who birdied four of his final six holes Friday, clearly made the right kind of progress from where he stood just a week ago after posting a 73 in the second round at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson (where nine players shot 63 or lower in Round 2).
He showed the scars from that round a bit during his press conference after the second round in Fort Worth, recalling a missed 5-foot putt on the 16th hole and then another on the 17th when he was within one shot of the cut line
“Obviously that’s a big slap in the face,” he said. “I think I was in third place or fourth, whatever it was, going into Friday, and just very poor approach play. I think I led the field last week in strokes gained: off the tee and it’s almost unheard of missing the cut and leading that stat. But, we saw really, really good stuff on that Thursday and I think that’s kind of all I’m focusing on. It was very clear to me why I played the way I did on Friday. You’re going to have bad days, but I missed an absurd amount of putts on that Friday.”