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It appears the 2026 PGA Tour season will start late for Justin Thomas, who revealed some surprising injury news amid his offseason.
Thomas revealed on Nov. 14 that after experiencing nagging hip pain, he recently underwent a successful microdiscectomy to alleviate a disc issue that was causing the hip pain.
“My next few weeks will be a lot of resting before the rehab process begins,” Thomas said in social media posts. I have a great team behind me who I fully trust to get me back to a better place than I was before!”
Justin Thomas Undergoes Back Surgery, Delaying Start of His Season
That much is the good news. The bad news for Thomas is that his on-course return date is very much up in the air. He’ll have to pull out of the revival of The Skins Game, slated for Black Friday. Thomas was set to play alongside Keegan Bradley, Xander Schauffele and Tommy Fleetwood. There’s no word yet on a potential replacement.
Additionally, it sounds as if Thomas won’t be ready when the 2026 PGA Tour season begins in January.
“Before you ask, I’m not putting any tournament on the calendar or specific time for returning,” Thomas continued in his post. “While I will miss some events in the beginning of 2026, I want to be very smart and patient in letting my disc fully heal so it isn’t an issue again.”
The new Tour season begins Jan. 15 in Hawaii for the Sony Open. Thomas also plays for the Atlanta Drive GC in the TGL, whose new season is set to begin Dec. 28.
The typical recovery time for the procedure is two to three months. Based on that timeline and barring any sort of major setbacks, that seems to suggest Thomas won’t miss any majors, starting with the Masters in April.
The Genesis Invitational, hosted by Thomas’ friend and mentor, Tiger Woods, is scheduled for Feb. 19-22. Just spitballing, that seems like a good return target for Thomas, assuming all goes well.
Speaking of Woods, Thomas will be able to lean on his buddy in the recovery process. Woods has undergone multiple disc surgeries. The first of those came back in 2014, the first of seven different back procedures. Woods, while also rehabbing a torn Achilles, recently underwent a disc replacement surgery on his lumbar spine.
Surely, Thomas hopes to avoid a similar fate, and it’s likely why Thomas is stressing patience and diligence in his recovery.
Mike Cole Mike Cole covers golf as well as the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans for Heavy.com. He previously worked at NESN where he covered Boston sports (and much more) for 15 years. More about Mike Cole
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