Justin Thomas In Contention At Fortinet Championship Ahead Of Ryder Cup

Justin Thomas moved into contention at the Fortinet Championship, as he showed some much-needed signs of form ahead of the Ryder Cup at the end of the month. 

Thomas has endured a disappointing year on the PGA Tour in 2023, with the American sliding down the World Rankings and failing to make the FedEx Cup playoffs having finished 71st in the season-long standings.

Despite his poor form, US Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson still backed Thomas, selecting him as one of his captain's picks for Marco Simone, and the US captain will no doubt be pleased to see some signs of form from Thomas as he moved into T6 after the second round at Silverado North.

The American led the field in driving distance and was second in strokes gained off the tee, as he shot a five-under-par round of 67 to reach -8 for the tournament.

He remains four shots back of the leaders - Sahith Theegala and SH Kim - at -12, but the American was pleased with his performance on Friday and, in particular, his improvements with the driver.

"I could tell in one video I was getting stuck underneath it," he said speaking after the round. "I could feel it some out there, and I feel like the adjustment I made on the fly yesterday to at least get it in the house, and so I had a good thought just from a little 10-minute range session yesterday afternoon that I felt like could get me through today, and it worked pretty well."

Thomas revealed he has been experimenting with a longer driver for the past few weeks, with the 30-year-old switching to it before his second round.

"I've used it the last three weeks, or I should say probably two and a half weeks," he added. "The Titleist guys, they came to where I was and we generally do like a yearly kind of checkup fitting to see if there's anything I really want to do.

"A little bit longer driver was something I wanted to look into, something to just kind of travel with if I needed it for maybe certain courses."

Alongside his improved driving, Thomas hit 17 of the 18 greens in regulation during his second round, the most he has achieved in a round since the Tournament of Champions back in January, according to Justin Ray.

Thomas' Ryder Cup teammate and defending champion, Max Homa, also sits at -6, with the American looking to become the first person since Steve Stricker to win a PGA Tour event in three successive years.