{"id":520940,"date":"2026-03-07T18:41:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T18:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/520940\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T18:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T18:41:12","slug":"rory-mcilroy-sends-message-to-justin-thomas-after-brutal-return-to-pga-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/520940\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy sends message to Justin Thomas after brutal return to PGA Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rory McIlroy predicted Justin Thomas<\/a> “will be fine” after the American looked extremely rusty on his return to the PGA Tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thomas returned to action at the Arnold Palmer Invitational<\/a> this week after spending nearly six months on the sidelines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old had a microdiscectomy surgery on his back last October to alleviate a disc problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He opened with a 79 on Thursday and endured a tough time at Bay Hill, missing five putts from inside 10 feet in his first competitive round since the Ryder Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thomas told of how he “couldn’t keep concentration” on the back nine and had to back off several shots as “I didn’t know what I was doing”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Things didn’t get much better for Thomas on Friday, with the two-time major champion carding his second consecutive 79 to miss the cut by a country mile.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His card included three bogeys, two double bogeys, one triple bogey and three birdies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, McIlroy<\/a> believes Thomas will bounce back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Yeah, look, I haven’t went through surgery, so I don’t know what that’s like to come back from,” said McIlroy after climbing the leaderboard with a 68.<\/p>\n

“But, yeah, it’s going to take time. I saw J.T. a few weeks ago and he said that this is going to be his first start and I said, ‘Oof, that’s probably not the best place to come back to after six months off’.”<\/p>\n

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McIlroy was alluding to the fact Bay Hill is one of the tougher courses on the PGA Tour where birdies are hard to come by.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He added: “But look, J.T.’s been one of the best players in the world for the last 10 years, he’ll be fine.<\/p>\n

“He just needs to get sort of sharp again and get into tournament mode and all that stuff.<\/p>\n

“But, I mean as long as he got through these two days and didn’t feel any ill effects of the back or the surgery, then I think he’s in a good spot.”<\/p>\n

McIlroy started the Arnold Palmer Invitational slowly with a level par opener. It left him nine strokes adrift of leader Daniel Berger after 18 holes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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But he made up some ground on Friday, dropping only one shot after finding the water after a loose approach at the eighth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The highlight of the day for McIlroy arrived at the 10th hole. He made birdie after hitting his drive 338 yards on an extremely aggressive line.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“One bogey [today],” said McIlroy. “Hit it in the water on eight. But made a good putt for bogey there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I really felt like that kept any momentum that I had for the round going.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I played the last 10 holes really, really well. Overall really pleased.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“Played a very sort of controlled, patient round of golf, which you need to do around here. Yeah, good day’s work.”<\/p>\n

McIlroy added: “If we don’t get any rain the next couple days, which it looks like we won’t, it’s going to be very, yeah, it’s going to be really difficult.<\/p>\n

“It’s difficult even if you hit the ball in the fairway, with this little bit of breeze, with the firm greens, I mean, it’s hard to get the ball close.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“You’re hitting good iron shots to 25, 30 feet all the time, and then you’re not going to make a lot of those.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“So really have to make the bulk of your score on the par-fives and just stay really patient for the rest of the way.”<\/p>\n

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