Justin Thomas had a rough return to action at Bay Hill, struggling through the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week.
Making his first start of the 2026 season, Thomas found the challenge at Bay Hill a step too far as he tried to regain his form after back surgery last November.
The two-time major winner was coming back from back surgery and hadn’t played a tournament since before then. He chose Bay Hill for his return, despite it being one of the tougher stops on tour.
Rory McIlroy admitted he was caught off guard by Thomas’s decision to make his comeback there, given how demanding the course is, especially for someone just getting back into shape.
Thomas ended up shooting consecutive rounds of 79 and finished at 14 over par across 36 holes. He ended up finishing last in the field, which wasn’t entirely surprising given how things went across both days.
While there’s no immediate need for alarm bells over one bad showing after a long layoff, the way those scores came together is what might raise some eyebrows. It wasn’t just the numbers—it was how he struggled through each round that stood out.
Interestingly, Thomas did lead one statistical category during the event – driving distance. But that only served to highlight how much else in his game needs work right now. The power is still there; it’s everything else that looked rusty.
Justin Thomas struggles to compete after return from injury
Thomas clearly wasn’t ready to return this soon, but that’s not all that surprising. He may have known he wouldn’t be in top form, though even he might not have expected things to go quite so badly.
Not every part of his game was struggling, which in some ways makes his missed cut even more concerning. It shows just how much work there is still to be done.
The two-time PGA Championship winner was ranked first in strokes gained around the greens during the first two rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
He picked up more than four strokes on the field with his play around the greens, so at least his short game looks solid for now.
But that alone won’t be enough to carry him through the big tournaments coming up over the next month, including The Players and The Masters. If other parts of his game don’t catch up soon, more frustration could follow.
Right now, Thomas needs to focus on fixing the technical issues in his swing – something that isn’t easy to do while competing in major events week after week.
Justin Thomas shows a worrying mindset with his comments on Bay Hill
He’s won 16 times on the PGA Tour, so there’s no doubting Justin Thomas’ mental strength. You don’t rack up that many titles without a solid mindset.
But even with that track record, his comments after Bay Hill were a bit surprising.
Thomas spoke to Golf Digest after his second round at Arnie’s Place and didn’t hold back in describing how tough it was.
When asked about his plans right after another 79 in Orlando, he was clear about not seeing much value in sticking around to practice.
“I’d come out here to practice, but it doesn’t really make sense to putt on these greens,“ Thomas fumed. “I mean, there’s zero chance that they’re going to be alive Sunday. They are so dead already, so that is one good thing about not playing here this weekend, because it is going to suck. It’s going to be really hard.”
PGA Tour pros rarely speak in those terms, especially someone like Thomas who has such a strong record over the years. But considering he’d been out of action for more than five months following back surgery, this was always going to be a difficult return.
The key for him now is not overthinking one bad week. The best move is simply getting as many reps as possible and trusting the process.
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