Justin Thomas has fired a warning about the physical grind of the PGA Tour's spring stretch, telling reporters at the Valspar Championship that top players are already exhausted before the most demanding stretch of the season even begins.
Speaking at Innisbrook Resort, where he has made nine career appearances with multiple top-10 finishes, the two-time major champion said the atmosphere in the physio room on Monday of tournament week told the story.
"I mean, right now I feel fine. I'm a little tired to be honest," Thomas said. "Last two weeks — it was really funny in the physio room on Monday, I went in there and it was very quiet. It's usually very loud because it's a lot of banter and BS going on in there, but everybody just looked like crap to be honest. Myself included."
Thomas said world No. 2 Novak sat on the training table beside him and summed up the mood in one sentence. "Novak was on the table and he was like, 'Yeah, probably just because we got our faces kicked in these last two weeks.' So the first thing I thought of is, what are we going to be like at the end of May or that stretch of Augusta, RBC, Miami, Quail Hollow, PGA? It's just a crazy amount of not only big tournaments, but extremely difficult golf courses."
That concern has already played out this month, with back issues for Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele and whispers that several top-30 players are nursing minor injuries heading into the RBC Heritage.
Despite his warning about the schedule, Thomas threw his support behind PGA Tour commissioner Brian Harman's move to expand signature events from limited-field no-cut formats to 120-player events with a 36-hole cut — a shift back toward traditional tour structure.
"I think cuts are a part of our game," Thomas said. "I think it's a big part of the history of golf, but yeah, I have a lot of faith in what Brian's doing and I think he's very passionate about what he's doing as well."
Thomas also dug in hard on the debate over sponsor exemptions, pushing back against calls to restrict them now that signature-event fields are tightening.
"I just think that sponsor exemptions are a massive part of our game. What are you going to tell Tiger Woods, he can't play if he wants to play? Like, I'm sorry, but you're an idiot if that's what you think. He needs to play in whatever he wants to play in and that's better for the golf tournament and the game of golf."
The 32-year-old speaks from recent experience. After slipping outside the FedEx Cup top 70 last season, Thomas had to navigate the early 2026 signature events without automatic status and admitted the process was stressful, even as he ultimately avoided leaning on any exemption.
"It was extremely stressful. I'm extremely proud of the fact that it was a big deal to me that I didn't have to rely on one exemption that year. I played my way into all of them and that was a big goal of mine because I didn't — first off, I hated having to ask, but I did ask. The majority of tournaments they were graceful and said, 'Yes, if you need it, we'll have one.'"
Thomas also used the press conference to praise the Valspar setup, calling it "one of the most underrated courses that we play," and said he would love to see more PGA Tour events in the Northeast after fond memories of TPC Boston and last year's Truist Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club. The 2026 PGA Championship returns to the region at Aronimink next month — the first stop in the grueling gauntlet Thomas is already bracing for.
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*Originally published on [Golf News Global](https://golfnews.global/article/justin-thomas-warns-pga-tour-schedule-wearing-players-down). Visit for full coverage.*
