In the fast-paced world of professional golf, success breeds imitation—and nowhere is that more evident than in the putter market. When a player starts rolling in birdies with a hot new flatstick, it doesn't take long for their peers to take notice and make a switch of their own.

Remember the Jailbird craze of 2023? Within two months, Rickie Fowler, Wyndham Clark, and Keegan Bradley all won with Jailbird Cruisers. This year, it's been all about TaylorMade's Spider putters, thanks to dominant performances from Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. Now, a new contender is emerging: Cam Young's Phantom 9.5R.

Fresh off Young's impressive wins at the Players Championship and the Cadillac Championship over the past six weeks, Justin Thomas has decided to follow suit. This week, Thomas made a switch to what is essentially an exact copy of Young's putter—a move that could signal the next big trend on tour.

According to Scotty Cameron Tour Representative Brad Cloke, the decision was straightforward: "You want Cam's putter? We were going to get Cam's putter."

This marks Thomas's second putter change in just over a month. He previously benched his trusty Phantom 5.5 gamer midway through the RBC Heritage, turning to a backup Newport 2 GSS blade that helped him play well over the weekend. He stuck with that blade last week in Miami, but it wasn't clicking—he lost strokes with it on the greens.

At Quail Hollow this week, Thomas was determined to find a long-term solution. After a disastrous start to his season at Bay Hill and a rough opening two rounds at Harbour Town, he had worked his way back to nearly zero strokes gained in putting. But inconsistency remained a nagging issue.

"Some of it is just calibration… some of it is just, he knows the potential of making good putts but not seeing anything go in," Cloke explained. "It just seemed like he kind of wanted to start a little bit from scratch this week."

With a fresh putter in hand and a new perspective, Thomas is hoping this copycat move will be the key to rediscovering his stroke—and maybe even sparking the next putter craze on tour.