2022 PGA Championship: Justin Thomas getting game in 'shape' for St Andrews

No matter what happens over the weekend - and he’s feeling quietly confident about claiming a second PGA Championship - Justin Thomas feels his game is literally going to be in good shape for the 150th Open at St Andrews in July.

In blowy conditions at Southern Hills in Tulsa – the greens hadn’t been cut overnight due to the forecast - the American produced a masterclass in golf ball control as he carded a second successive 67 to reach the halfway stage in the season’s second major sitting on six-under-par.

Thomas, the 2017 winner, is hoping to use his strong start as a springboard to get his hands back on the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday, but, at the same time, he already has one eye on that trip to Fife later this year.

“I think it's definitely more important some weeks than others,” said Thomas of his shot-shaping skills. “You get to a place like a Palm Springs where the wind doesn't blow and the greens are pretty soft, it's just see pin, hit pin and go from there.

“But, especially in a couple months when we get to St Andrews, I would like to think and hope that that's going to be pretty useful, and being able to get some balls not necessarily close to the hole but around the hole.

“But that's a long way away, and we're just hoping that what I'm doing here just continues to work for this course.”

Working brilliantly in tandem with his experienced caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay, Thomas signed for four birdies, including a walk-in one from around 10 feet to finish, in his second circuit.

His 134 total equalled his best opening 36-hole score in a major, having also reached the halfway stage on that mark when finishing joint-sixth in this event in 2018.

“Yeah, very pleased,” said Thomas of his work so far in Oklahoma. “Although