Justin Thomas sums up tough return at Bay Hill: “These scores are a lot lower than I thought they would be”

All eyes were on Justin Thomas as he made his comeback at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after a long hiatus. Thomas, a 16-time PGA Tour winner, returned to action for the first time since the Ryder Cup.

He spent the last five months recovering from a back injury, and fans welcomed the star with cheers, hoots, shouts and applause.

Thomas expected his return to kick off on a high, but things didn’t unfold the way he wanted.

Poor outing for Justin Thomas after comeback post five-month break

Justin Thomas’ opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational didn’t go as planned. After Round 1 at Bay Hill Club and Lodge, he shot a seven-over-par 79 and is currently last on the leaderboard. He found the water on holes six and 16 and had two double bogeys on the back nine.

A disappointed Thomas chose to stand alone with his golf club in hand, closely looking at the course. He also appeared surprised. Thomas, after a poor first round at Bay Hill, told his caddie on the 18th hole that he was surprised by the scoring from the rest of the field.Speaking after his round, Thomas said, “Yeah, it kind of sucks, to be honest. It is what it is. I said to Rev, walking up 18, I said, ‘I know it’s been a while since we played, but these scores are a lot lower than I thought they would be.’

It got pretty dicey this afternoon."

“The greens had a bit of a Friday afternoon kind of feel to ’em. But everybody else is out here playing the same place I am, they just played a lot better. So, yeah, go try to figure a couple things out and just do better tomorrow,” Thomas was quoted as saying by hitc.com.Bay Hill is a course known for throwing surprises and for its notorious nature. It is one of the most difficult courses on the PGA Tour.

But a 79 is still a poor effort from a player of Thomas’ calibre.

Justin Thomas shares his weakness at the Arnold Palmer Invitational

Justin Thomas was asked what the rustiest part of his game was, and he said his putting.“I putted terrible today. I had a hard time gauging the speed. But just a lot of little stuff. I could not keep my concentration for the life of me on the back nine," he said.“I just had a couple times I had to back off because I just would kind of walk into the shot and have no idea what I was even trying to do. It was good to play, honestly, an 18-hole pro-am yesterday for me to get used to being out here that long and trying to concentrate that long. I haven’t done that in a while. But still no excuse to make that many mistakes. But just go out and try to do better tomorrow,” Thomas said.All eyes will once again be on Thomas when the Friday round begins. It will be a big test for the comeback man, who will hope to turn things around and climb the leaderboard.Also read: Justin Thomas set to return at Arnold Palmer Invitational after surgery: “Not expecting anything great”