Justin Thomas hopes to build on his performances in the United Kingdom as he chases his first victory of the year at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind.
Thomas, who won the event at Firestone last year when it was the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, produced solid performances at last week's 148th Open Championship and the preceding Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open.
The former World Number One was one shot off a top ten finish at Royal Portrush having been tied for ninth in Scotland the week before.
"I had two really positive weeks at the Scottish and then The Open last week," Thomas said.
"I felt like I easily could have gotten a couple of top fives out of those two weeks, just with an unfortunate finish there on Sunday at 17 at The Open.
"But I feel like I'm very, very close to winning again. I've been saying that all year, but I feel like I've got my putter kind of back a lot closer to where I would like it."
The Open Championship saw some incredible moments, with Irishman Shane Lowry breaking the new course record at Royal Portrush on his way to a popular victory.
And the crowds were making plenty of noise on Friday evening as an inspired Rory McIlroy came within a shot of making the cut despite starting the day eight over par.
Thomas was quick to pay tribute to McIlroy's display, writing on Twitter: "Even as a competitor and trying to beat the guy every week, sometimes I have to step back and realize how great @McIlroyRory is for golf. How he handles the spotlight, the highs, the lows, his social life, the fans, his golf, everything.. it’s awesome to watch."
Now the 2017 US PGA Championship winner has to turn his attention to the third of the four World Golf Championships events in Memphis, where McIlroy will be among his opponents.
Thomas is officially the defending champion this week, but he is happy for Dustin Johnson to claim that title for his own.
Johnson won the last professional event held at TPC Southwind, a course where Thomas has never played.
"I would probably call him the defending champion," Thomas said.
"I've never played here in my life and he won the tournament here last year. But I don't think it's going to have any impact on who plays better this week.
"I'm excited to be here. I haven't gone out on the golf course yet. I'm just trying to get over the jet lag. I woke up at like 4:30 this morning, so I think it will probably take a couple of days to get caught up on sleep."
