Thomas ready to rejoin FedExCup chase

DUBLIN, Ohio – Justin Thomas admits he was bored.

The former FedExCup champion returns from a wrist injury this week having not played since the Masters, itching to get back at it.

Thomas has been antsy, particularly as he missed events and courses he loves in his time away.

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The Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow (where he won his PGA Championship), the PGA Championship (a major), plus the RBC Heritage and the Charles Schwab Challenge, all on strategic courses he loves, went by without him in the field.

But despite feeling like he was possibly ready, he decided to take the wise and conservative approach to limit chance of further damage.

“I learned very quickly there's not a lot to do in South Florida when you can't golf or fish. I watched a lot of TV and I traveled some, just to try to pass the time,” he joked.

“I’m great (now). I wouldn't be here if I wasn't. I was able to do a lot of lower body and core exercises, so I was trying to maintain the best possible shape that I could. In the last three or four weeks I've gotten after it pretty hard to make sure that I was ready for when I did come back out.”

Thomas initially hurt his wrist attempting to muscle a shot from behind a tree at The Honda Classic, a shot he says he wouldn’t try again in hindsight.

“When I hit that tree and the club didn't break, that created a lot of tightness in my arm. And because of that every shot I hit the stress wasn't able to go through my arm. It was only able to go to one place in my wrist, and that's where the injury was,” Thomas explained.

“Obviously if I had it back, I would have chipped it out and made my bogey like I did anyway. Everything happens for a reason, and there was some reason for that happening, and maybe it was a learning experience for me.

“Now I'm paying a lot more attention to that and making sure that never happens again.”

Over the past two seasons, Thomas has finished inside the top-10 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide.

He calls it a home event, having grown up in nearby Kentucky, and is adamant success will happen for him at Muirfield Village.

“I love the golf course and I really do feel like I'm going to win this event at some point in my career,” he said.

He’s certainly fresh for his 2019 run.