After his microdiscectomy in November 2025, Justin Thomas had to stay away from bending, lifting, and twisting for several weeks. On Wednesday at Colonial Country Club, he said this recovery needed more patience than anything he had faced before.

The 32-year-old played at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas. It was his first tournament since the PGA Championship two weeks earlier, and his first time playing at Colonial since 2022.

At a press conference on Wednesday, when asked if his recovery had tested his patience, he answered honestly. "I was going pretty stir crazy," Thomas said. "You try as best you can to look ahead, like all the stuff I'm doing is going to pay off, but it sure doesn't feel like that when you're going through it."

The surgery was a microdiscectomy, done to remove part of a slipped disc that was pressing on a nerve in his lower back. His Special Surgery was performed in November 2025.

Soon after the procedure, Thomas said on the No Laying Up Podcast that the forced stillness felt strange and disorienting.

 "I walk completely fine," he said at the time. "The weirdest part is not doing anything because I'm not supposed to, not because I physically can't."

The surgery wiped out his end-of-year schedule. Gone were the Skins Game, the Hero World Challenge, and the PNC Championship. Shane Lowry replaced him in the Skins Game field.

He came back at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, his first tournament in six months. Bay Hill was very tough for him. He shot 79 in both rounds and missed the cut. He called it “humiliating.”

After that, he finished tied 8th at the Players Championship. He started well with rounds of 68 and 68, but ended with 72 and 72.

Then he played at Aronimink. At the PGA Championship, he finished with a strong final-round 65. He ended at five under par, four shots behind the winner, Aaron Rai, and finished tied 4th.

The U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills is June 18, and Colonial is his warm-up.

How Much Did Justin Thomas' Surgery Decision Actually Cost Him?

Thomas had marked Colonial on his schedule in advance. After how his season started, the Charles Schwab Challenge came in the right gap between the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open.

He had not played on the course since it was renovated, so this week was his first look at it. The greens are lower, so players can roll the ball onto them more easily. He said he liked the changes, but also said the course will become much harder as it dries out and gets firmer over the weekend.

The surgery cost him more than just missing tournaments. He also missed the Skins Game reboot, the Hero World Challenge, and the PNC Championship at the end of 2025.

His season only began in March at Bay Hill. He said it was the longest he had gone without playing competitive golf since he was a child.

Do you think Thomas made the right call choosing surgery over injections? Drop your thoughts in the comments.

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Souvik Roy