How to watch Justin Thomas’ PGA Tour return from surgery at Arnold Palmer Invitational

The 2026 PGA Tour is in full swing as the world’s best descend upon Bay Hill this week for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Nearly every top-ranked golfer in the world will be in the field, including two-time major champion Justin Thomas.

Thomas will be making his 2026 debut after undergoing microdiscectomy surgery in November of last year. In his absence, Thomas has fallen outside the top-10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, coming in at No. 14.

His best finish was tying for fourth in 2024. But he is keeping his expectations in check. Following last week’s TGL match for the Atlanta Drive, Thomas laid out his thoughts on returning to the PGA Tour.

“Obviously would love to play well next week, but I’m also understanding that it’ll be almost five, six months since I played a competitive tournament,” Thomas said after the match.

“So I’m not exactly expecting anything great, but at least everybody else will be struggling with me at Bay Hill. So that’ll make me feel a little bit better.”

The fact that he has been playing in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s virtual golf league this season illustrates his readiness. But hitting into a mat inside a stadium is a vast difference from playing Arnie’s course in real life.

Nevertheless, the two-time PGA Championship winner will tackle the course. Here is how you can watch Thomas and the other PGA Tour stars play the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

How to Watch Arnold Palmer Invitational

Television:

• Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m., Golf Channel
• Saturday-Sunday: 12:30-2:30 p.m., Golf Channel; 2:30-6 p.m., NBC, Peacock

PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+:

• Thursday-Friday: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
• Saturday-Sunday: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ consists of four streams:

• Main feed (Stream 1): Primary tournament coverage featuring action from across the course
• Marquee group (Stream 2): New “Marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group
• Featured groups (Stream 3): Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups
• Betcast presented by DraftKings (Stream 4): Betting coverage and analysis throughout the week

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