If you follow the equipment news at all, it’s no secret that Titleist new TSi metal woods are now a hot ticket item. Beyond Titleist staff players, multiple noteworthy free agents have put it in play (Fleetwood, Fitzpatrick, Horschel—and even Justin Rose was seen testing this week at Shadow Creek).

Oddly enough this is the first we will be seeing Titleist’s main draw, Justin Thomas, put it in play in PGA Tour competition.

Thomas isn’t a player that dives too much into the nuance of his equipment. Rather, he leans on the likes of Titleist tour rep JJ VanWezenbeeck to get it just right. JT has been testing the new gear for a while now, and we wanted to know what that process was like and how he eventually landed on his new gamer.

WRX chatted with VanWezenbeeck and this is what he had to say.

WRX: In early testing, what benefits did JT find in the new TSi3 over his TS3?

JJ: JT, as with a number of our Tour Team members, is involved throughout the development process. They are so good that as we try for more distance and better performance, they can provide valuable data. You can also see the tour feedback in TSi shaping—with the beautiful shapes at address, they are very classic but confidence-inspiring. So, by the time we got the final product, JT had already seen and hit a few of the iterations over the last 27 months since we launched TS.

WRX: Any dramatic improvements in ball speed or launch conditions?

JJ: First hits for JT he noticed a ball speed jump, which for all players provides excitement. For a tour player, the next handful of hits is what really made him excited–consistent stable flight. When he would make a “bad” swing, he saw similar ball speeds, good direction, similar launch conditions. The MOI improvements really started to stand out the more shots he hit as we dialed in the driver and he kept commenting how stable the driver was. This was a consistent thread across tour players who were testing.

WRX: What were his reactions to the sound feel?

JJ: Sound and feel were also big standouts–he said it felt really good and liked the sound. Then he went to his older metals and realized how much he LOVED the new feel. Said he never would have called his old gamer bad feeling until he hit TSi–then he noticed how big an upgrade it was.

WRX: Diamana TB. Why that profile over ZF?

JJ: JT had a lot of success with BF before we switched to ZF which has also worked well so we never stray too far in profile. The spin reduction in TSi3 is great for a lot of players but for JT’s draw, we were looking to have a little more spin. The TB had a really good feel for JT but allowed just slightly more spin vs ZF which matched with TSi3 really well.

WRX: What are JT’s “have to’s” with a driver?

JJ: We normally look at 4 shots with JT.

“Stock” – which will be a mid to high launch, small cut.  This shot needs to be very repeatable.

“Draw” – he will then make sure he can shape a shot on command right to left, high launch lower spin but can shape into specific fairways.

“Fairway finder” – very low cut, mid-spin, high speed – peak height near 70 to 80.

“Bomb” swing hard, swing up, go far – least important of the 4 but likes knowing he has when needed and TSi stability really shows off here where even at high speeds allows him to really control the flight across the face.

WRX: Will the 3-wood go in play?

JJ: JT currently isn’t in the 3-wood but is actively testing. Really a hard club for tour pros, and when we add ball speed to this club, sometimes it gets a little long for tour players depending on the course. He likes how it sets up, but with the complications of the schedule this year, we are being slow and methodical making sure his bag is dialed in for the remainder of the year.

Justin Thomas’ new drier specs

Driver: Titleist TSi3 (9 degrees; SureFit Hosel – B1, Surefit CG – T1)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana TB 60 TX (44 7/8″)

Grip: Tour Velvet Cord Logo Down