two-time major winner Justin Thomas It was announced Friday that he will miss the start of the 2026 PGA Tour season after back surgery.
“Life update – I’ve been having hip pain for a few months,” Thomas said. Statement posted on social media“After some time off and symptoms worsening, an MRI revealed I had a disc problem that needed to be treated,”
Thomas said he underwent a successful microdiscectomy at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York on Thursday and has already been released from the hospital.
The 32-year-old, who is ranked eighth in the Official World Golf Ranking, won the RBC Heritage last season (his 18th career Tour win) and has entered the top-10 eight times in 2025.
Thomas was scheduled to play in the Hero World Challenge from December 4-7 as well as participate in the Skins game reboot on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
“My next few weeks are going to be a lot of rest before I begin the rehabilitation process,” Thomas said. “I have a great team behind me that I am confident will take me back to a better place than before!”
Although he did not specify a target date for a return to competitive golf, Thomas acknowledged that he would miss events as early as 2026.
Typical timeline of recovery from a microdiscectomy, a surgery that Thomas’s friend performed Tiger Woods It’s happened several times, it’s been three months.
Woods underwent microdiscectomy three times from 2014 to 2015, had another microdiscectomy in 2020, and then a Similar process in 2024 alsoLast month, Woods announced that he had disc replacement surgery,
“I want to be very smart and patient about getting my disc completely healed so it’s never a problem again,” Thomas said. “I am very fortunate that the game of golf allows us to play at a high level for a long time, and that is what I plan to do – this procedure will allow me to do so injury free in the future.”
