Justin Thomas struggles to 79 in TOUR return at Arnold Palmer Invitational

ORLANDO, Fla. — Justin Thomas played competitive golf outdoors for the first time after 158 days away from the game, having undergone a microdiscectomy to alleviate a disc problem. Unstably, there was going to be rust.

Thomas opened the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard with a 7-over 79 at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, one of the PGA TOUR’s toughest venues.

“I know it’s been a while since we played, but these scores are a lot lower than I thought they would be,” Thomas said jokingly after his round despite his score.

It was the first time Thomas had struck a ball in competition since the 2025 Ryder Cup, where he went 2-2-0 and nearly inspired the U.S. Team to a Sunday comeback at Bethpage Black in New York.

“Yeah, it was kind of hard to say it was good to be back out,” Thomas said after the opening round. “Not obviously how I expected it to go. But the rust aspect kind of unfortunately, was a little bit of what I anticipated. Yeah, just it is what it is.”

While those watching on may have wondered how the back would handle the golf swing, it was the putter that let Thomas down. He lost almost four strokes to the field on the greens on Thursday, struggling to gauge the speed on putting surfaces already looking to get near their usual Sunday slickness.

He missed putts from inside 10 feet at Nos. 1, 7, 10, 11 and 13, and only made 58 feet worth of putts for the day.

After almost six months away from the game, it was no surprise to Thomas that the mental side of the game was also a struggle.

“I could not keep my concentration for the life of me on the back nine,” Thomas said, who came home in 5-over 41, with a double bogey at the par-4 11th and then again at the par-5 15th, after rinsing a ball on his approach. “I just had a couple times I had to back off because I just would kind of walk into the shot and have no idea what I was even trying to do.”

There were positives for Thomas during the first round. He ranked fourth in Strokes Gained: Around the Green, with his usual creative shortgame showing no signs of rust.

With a Friday tee time at Bay Hill, Thomas has another round to get under his belt and shake off the rust.