Justin Thomas was out of action from mid-September 2025 due to his persistent lumbar pain. And now, he’s returning after his microdiscectomy. But during his time away from the golf course, Thomas realized something important. 

During the press conference for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the two-time major champion said, “I'm going to need a job when I retire. I definitely am not good at doing nothing... I'm going to need to find something whenever I stop playing golf, because when you have nothing to look forward to or nothing to feel like you can improve and get better for, when you're kind of wired that way, it's a hard thing to step right into.”

That's because Thomas was under BLT restrictions: that means he couldn't bend, lift, or twist his body. And this was for quite a few weeks. He even had to skip part of the 2026 season as part of the healing process. Until February, he couldn't even play golf. Thomas started with resistance bands and gradually moved to chipping and putting.

“Also it's like, Oh well, I'm home, and I get to spend all this time and do all this stuff with my family because I was able to be home and spend time with them. But Molly would crawl up to me and kind of look at me for me to pick her up, and I just had to stare at her like, ‘I'm sorry, I can't pick you up.’”

Explaining his troubles to his one-year-old seemed nigh on impossible. He spent about three months in recovery, and that’s not too long compared to the rehabilitation time needed for other major surgeries. However, for Justin Thomas, it came with a wave of different emotions. “It's a lot of different feelings,” he said. 

But as he returns to active competition, Thomas has set his goals straight. 

Justin Thomas Opens Up on His Goals

“My main goal is really to get myself in a place where I feel like at Augusta I'm good to go,” Thomas said. “I don't feel rusty, I don't feel like I'm still kind of getting comfortable. Like physically, conditioning, my biggest goal up until then is to feel normal there.”

He’s playing well enough to gain confidence and compete this week. But it’s the other physical factors, like maintaining stamina beyond the 15th hole, that worry Thomas. Nevertheless, he knows that he can’t be too hard on himself for the next few weeks. 

Justin Thomas now focuses on regaining full fitness. And that might take a few more months. But can he build his momentum before the 2026 Masters Tournament?

Read more at Daily Club Golf!

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Eknoor Juneja

Written by

Krushna Pattnaik

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar