Justin Thomas: 3 simple keys to stuffing short wedge shots

PGA player Justin Thomas shares 3 important tips every golfer needs to know in order to have success on wedge shots from under 100 yards

Major champ Justin Thomas reveals the secrets to impeccable wedge play.

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Whenever I play a round and completely misfire a tee shot, I quickly remind myself something many GOLF Top 100 Teacher have stressed to me: “Just try to win within 100 yards.”

It seems so…simple.

While actually getting to within 100 yards may be a struggle at times — due to bad tee shots or chunked approach shots — having a masterful touch with your wedges and putter will always give you a chance to score.

So how can you accomplish that? A good place to start is by listening to two-time major champion Justin Thomas, who provides some easy tips on how to dial in wedge shots from within 100 yards in the video below (courtesy of Titleist’s YouTube channel).

3 things Justin Thomas says to do on wedge shots
In the video above, Thomas breaks down a few key aspects of hitting a wedge shot from under 100 yards.

He starts with an 85-yard shot from the fairway, then one from the same distance in the rough and closes with a difficult shot over a bunker from 35 yards out.

85-yard shot (from fairway): Determine your ball flight
“I’ve got 85 yards with a little bit of [head] wind,” Thomas says. “It looks like I’ve got a touch of a backstop, so I’ve got a 60-degree wedge here and can play this a couple of different ways.”

Next, Thomas suggests how he’d approach this shot, specifically focusing on his ball flight.

“With that backstop, it’s one where I’d probably want to fly it 86 or 87 yards, be aggressive, and a little bit right of the hole,” he adds. “I’m going to use a pretty standard flight, but it’s into the wind, so I might have to hit it harder.

“For me, I like to flight my wedges down to be able to control the spin. You want to be able to spin it a lot if you need to, but, for me, it seems like I’m trying to take spin off as opposed to add it.”

85-yard shot (from rough): Read the lie
As any golfer knows, not all 85-yard wedge shots are created equal, so Thomas moves from the middle of the fairway to the rough, explaining what players must understand before making a club choice and deciding what type of shot they plan to hit.

“This shot changes drastically when you’re in the rough,” Thomas says. “A lot of it is just reading the lie, which is something that as a player, over the course of years playing, you understand what lies are going to do.”

Next, Thomas describes two different types of lies — one where more than half the ball is sitting beneath the top of the grass, and another where the ball is sitting more on top of the grass.