Is Rory McIlroy using the Scotty Cameron Putter ditched by Justin Thomas?

Rory McIlroy was spotted with a new putter ahead of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The ace golfer, set to make his first start since The Open at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind, was seen toying with a new flat stick on Tuesday. Interestingly, he was seen with the mallet style Scotty Cameron Phantom X model, the same one used by Justin Thomas.

It is important to note that Rory McIlroy has switched putters multiple times over the past few years. The 34-year-old sticked with his TaylorMade Spider X the majority of the time before moving to Scotty Cameron Newport blades. In an image shared on Twitter by Golf Digest's Luke Kerr Dineen, the Irishman is seen putting with the Phantom X 5.5.

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Rory McIlroy experiments with Justin Thomas' clubs

This isn’t the first time Rory McIlroy has tried Thomas' clubs. The PGA Tour star had also added Titleist Vokey wedges to his bag earlier in the year. He once said that he toyed with his friends’ clubs back at home in Florida before deciding to try his hands with it.

Speaking at the WM Phoenix Open in February after adding in the Vokey wedges, Rory McIlroy said, as quoted by Golf Monthly:

"Yeah, so that was really it. I was messing around with Justin, I see Justin Thomas all the time at home and messing around with some of his wedges and some of the grinds he has. I got in touch and ordered a couple, and they've worked really nicely.

Yeah, so this is my first year of my new deal with TaylorMade, and they gave me just a little bit of flexibility with some of the clubs that I can play."

Interestingly, Justin Thomas himself has been experimenting with his putter over the past weeks. The 30-year-old, who has struggled to find form this season, was seen using the Scotty Cameron prototype Phantom X9 putter with a 38-inch counterbalanced shaft at the Wyndham Championship. However, he dropped the experiment midway and switched back to his old trusted Scotty Cameron X5 Tour Circle T.

Speaking in his post-first round press conference last week, Thomas revealed that he returned to his old putter as he’d made “most clutch and successful and good putts” with it.

The two-time major champion said in the presser:

"I putted with it [Scotty Cameron X5 Tour Circle T] on Saturday last week after I missed the cut for probably like an hour, maybe a little more, on the putting green, it felt great.

I think if it was a little different situation or a little different part of the season, I'd probably keep messing with it, but with a week like this, I want to have the putter in my hands that I've made the most clutch and successful and good putts with and that's what that one is."

It is imperative to note that the putter change didn't produce a significant difference for Thomas. The golfer finished T12 on the leaderboard and failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.