Justin Thomas is back, but not exactly with a bang.
The 16-time PGA Tour winner returned to action for the first time since the Ryder Cup, having spent the last five months recovering from a back injury.
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But his opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational didn’t go to plan. He’s currently dead last after round one at Bay Hill, having shot a seven-over-par +7 to start his tournament. He found the water on six and 16, and had two double bogeys on the back nine.
He was disappointed by his own performance, but also surprised by what he saw from the rest of the field during Thursday’s action.
Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Why Justin Thomas was surprised by the field at the Arnold Palmer Invitational
Thomas played poorly in his first round at Bay Hill, but he told his caddie on the 18th hole that he was surprised by the scoring from the rest of the field.
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Speaking after his round, Thomas said, “Yeah, it kind of sucks, to be honest. It is what it is. I said to Rev, walking up 18, I said, ‘I know it’s been a while since we played, but these scores are a lot lower than I thought they would be.’ It got pretty dicey this afternoon.
“The greens had a bit of a Friday afternoon kind of feel to ’em. But everybody else is out here playing the same place I am, they just played a lot better. So, yeah, go try to figure a couple things out and just do better tomorrow.”
Bay Hill is notoriously one of the most difficult golf courses on the PGA Tour, but a 79 is still a poor effort from a player of Thomas’ calibre, no matter the circumstances. Hopefully, he can shake off the rust and climb the leaderboard during his Friday round.
Justin Thomas names the rustiest part of his game on his return from injury
They say your short game is the first thing to go when you stop playing golf, and that was certainly the case with Thomas at Bay Hill.
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The American was asked what the rustiest part of his game was, and he said his putting: “I putted terrible today. I had a hard time gauging the speed. But just a lot of little stuff. I could not keep my concentration for the life of me on the back nine.
“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. It was good to play, honestly, an 18-hole pro-am yesterday for me to get used to being out here that long and trying to concentrate that long.
“I haven’t done that in a while. But still no excuse to make that many mistakes. But just go out and try to do better tomorrow.”
Thomas was the second-worst putter in the field, losing nearly four strokes on the greens, but truthfully was poor in every area of his game. The good news? It can only get better.
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