The road back to the summit of professional golf is rarely a straight line, and Justin Thomas found this out the hard way after his recent back surgery.
The 32-year-old spent months battling back pain that radiated down his leg. Even after a successful surgery, he sat out of action for five months, and returning to the tee at Bay Hill proved that rust is a stubborn opponent.
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He finished the Arnold Palmer Invitational dead last in the field, making his return to the sport after five months.
High expectations can be a heavy burden for a two-time major champion. Thomas admitted his recent return felt difficult and, at times, demoralising. However, he has a blueprint to navigate this struggle.
Thomas can turn to the greatest golfer of all time, Tiger Woods, to learn how to shake off this rust and recover from a back injury.
Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
How Justin Thomas can learn from Tiger Woods’ recovery
Woods serves as the ultimate cautionary tale and inspiration for Thomas. Woods underwent five back surgeries before his miraculous 2019 Masters win. He famously admitted to rushing back too soon in the early years of his decline.
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Thomas has seen the dark days firsthand during his frequent visits to Tiger. He watched a legend struggle to walk, let alone swing a golf club at 120 mph. And the biggest lesson he has learned so far is the absolute necessity of a long-term view.
Woods often ignored his body’s warnings to chase immediate tournament glory. This impatience likely contributed to the need for his eventual spinal fusion. Thomas has clearly listened, refusing to set a firm date for his full return.
Speaking before the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he said, “My number one thing that I reiterated to everybody is just like we’re not pressing this, we’re not pushing it. If the timeline is two to four weeks to start rehab, like let’s start at four weeks. If it’s start chipping and putting at four to six weeks, let’s start six weeks.
“Golf is a funny sport where, and we’re fortunate that I can play at a very competitive high level until my mid to late 40s, I feel like, and to try to come back a couple events early just because I love Riviera or just because I love Pebble Beach, it doesn’t make sense in terms of over a long career.”
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It seems that Thomas has already taken a leaf out of Woods’ book, but now he needs to look to his 2018 season to maintain his patience moving forward.
How long it took Tiger Woods to shake off rust in 2018
Tiger Woods’ return to full fitness in 2018 was a masterclass in patient rebuilding, following the spinal fusion surgery he underwent in April 2017. At that stage, his condition was so severe that he struggled to perform basic daily tasks, let alone compete on the PGA Tour.
It took around 17 months for Woods to return to winning ways after the surgery. He only began hitting full shots in late 2017, six months after his surgery, making a tentative return at the Hero World Challenge that December.
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However, true tournament fitness, the fully rejuvenated version capable of enduring four days of elite pressure, didn’t manifest until mid-2018. It took a full season of 18 tournaments and 64 competitive rounds to test the structural integrity of his back.
This painstaking process culminated in September 2018 at the Tour Championship. Seventeen months after his fusion, Woods finally proved he had regained full fitness by securing his 80th PGA Tour title, outlasting the world’s best in the heat of Atlanta. He went on to claim a famous Masters win the following season in 2019.
While Woods’ surgery was far more severe, it serves as a lesson to Thomas that he doesn’t have to get all of his form back at once.
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