CROMWELL, Conn. – Justin Thomas started his tee shot well left of the par-4 17th fairway in Friday’s second round at the Travelers Championship and played a sweeping fade with roughly 30 yards of curvature that drifted toward the water hazard before settling in the fairway’s right side, leading to a 125-yard approach to 14 feet and a comfy par.

Thomas proceeded to card a second-round 64 at TPC River Highlands for a 9-under 131 total, good for a share of the Travelers’ 36-hole lead alongside Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood – a week after a missed cut at the U.S. Open that left him “pretty pissed off.”

Thomas was fired up to return to contention quickly at the Travelers, the season’s final Signature Event, and he has done so in Connecticut even though he doesn’t feel fully confident with his swing. One of golf’s preeminent shotmakers, Thomas is making it work, as epitomized by his intentional banana ball at the 17th hole Friday.

Would that have been Thomas’ preferred shot shape under conventional conditions? Maybe, maybe not. But strong winds blanketed TPC River Highlands on Friday, with several holes played against a crosswind at the water-logged layout, which has hosted the PGA TOUR since 1984. It was the exact tonic that Thomas needed after a rough week at the U.S. Open, where he carded rounds of 76-76 at Oakmont Country Club and departed in frustration – he didn’t need gentle conditions to recuperate. He needed this type of test, where high winds turned normally gettable TPC River Highlands into a Friday grind.

The majors haven’t been indicative of Thomas’ performance this season as a whole; he stands No. 4 on the FedExCup but also missed the cut at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open (and finished a pedestrian T36 at the Masters). The 13th-year pro, now a husband and father, would like to think that these results don’t tick him off as much. But he can’t help it, and he doesn’t hide from it.

“It unfortunately hasn't become any easier,” Thomas said of struggling in majors. “I still get pretty pissed off about it and I still … it weighs on me more than it should. I think you hear a lot of guys talk about it, their golf defining them, it doesn't change who they are as a person, but I still very clearly think of myself as my person of how I'm playing golf. I would like to change that, but it's just the reality; it means a lot to me. You could say it's good or bad.

“But yeah, coming to a place that I like and I feel like I kind of know, it's a lot easier for me to get over last week versus maybe if I was going to a course that I haven't had success at or I feel like I have a hard time playing, then it could be a little, like, uh-oh, what are we going to do kind of thing.”

Thomas relishes the challenge of devising a shot shape in real time, like he did on the par-4 17th Friday, which features water down the fairway’s entire right side. If you miss the fairway left, you’re in a bunker or rough that makes for a challenging second shot across the water. If you’re slightly right, you’re in a watery grave. Thomas played it well en route to a second-round 64, matching Friday’s low score at TPC River Highlands, and a tee time alongside the world No. 1 Scheffler in Saturday’s third round in New England.

“That's just an instance of I know that … I feel like I can just aim way left and I honestly just hit a little slap slice out there,” Thomas said of his tee shot at No. 17. “That was one another I feel like I hit that pretty far off the heel, but I'm giving it enough room to where it's going to stay luckily in the fairway.

“It's an awkward tee shot because … the distance that it asks for off the tee is kind of like a 5-wood or 4-iron distance, but with such an elevated tee, it feels like the ball is going to stay in the air so long and you want to hit it low. It's just kind of a mental thing for a lot of us. I just have kind of the last three or four years, I've just committed to almost hitting driver or 3-wood and just hitting a little dinky shot out there, something to where I don't care what it looks like, I don't care anything. I'm just trying to hit it in the fairway and whatever is most comfortable doing that.”

Scheffler opened in 8-under 62 at TPC River Highlands but slowed (by his standards) to a 1-under 69 on Friday that included a double bogey at the par-4 17th. Scheffler caught the left fairway bunker on 17, and his second shot landed in the water hazard after he caught it a bit thin. Playing a wedge for his fourth shot, it spun back off the front of the green, and he got up and down for a 6 that dropped him into a tie with Thomas through 36 holes.

Scheffler is three years younger than Thomas, and he said Friday that he looked up to the Kentucky native in his formative years. Now they’re both 16-time PGA TOUR winners, including multiple majors, and are both set to represent the U.S. Team at this fall’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black (Thomas isn’t a lock yet, but his selection appears imminent based on recent form).

The world No. 1 has long been impressed by Thomas’ work ethic and determination to maximize his game. Case in point: the day after missing the cut at the U.S. Open, Thomas was back to work at home. That work has paid off quickly, with a tee time alongside Scheffler in Saturday’s final pairing.

“Justin is an extremely hard worker,” Scheffler said Friday. “I think Justin is more of a practicer than I am. I like to play a lot when I practice. With Justin, he is very, very disciplined in the way he approaches things, and that's why you've seen him have success for so many years out here. He sticks to his process. He doesn't let things kind of get to him, I think, and I think a lot of that goes back to how hard he prepares to come out here and play. He's very, I would say, professional in the way he approaches things.”

Thomas’ play at the Travelers has matched that sentiment – he’s making it work.