A week after battling a painful illness, Michael Thorbjornsen is back to normal at American Express.
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Michael Thorbjornsen started his PGA Tour season a week later than expected due to a painful illness.
The 23-year-old Stanford product, who won his PGA Tour by being ranked No. 1 in the 2024 PGA Tour University Rankings, was first in the field for last week’s Sony Open in Hawaii. However, Thorbjornsen withdrew at the last minute.
“Yeah, last week I had tonsils,” Thorbjornsen told reporters Thursday after shooting a seven-under 65 in the first round of the American Express. “The day I arrived is kind of when it hit me and I stayed in bed for three days straight. It was really, really bad. Yeah, definitely kind of in the past now, I had some good reps, it came out here, I think, on Saturday, so I got an extra day of practice and got things back on track.
“I think Tuesday was the worst day,” Thorbjornsen said. “Those three days seem like one day, but we were thinking, OK, if I sleep well, if I feel good enough, even if, I mean, it’s not fully healed, if I can get out maybe one-, two-under , I will feel even better about tomorrow and have a later time. Unfortunately, I didn’t sleep well, I woke up in the morning and I didn’t feel better, so that’s kind of when we decided to retire.”
Thorbjornsen withdrew from the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club at 5:50 a.m. local time Thursday before the tournament began. Canadian Nick Taylor went on to win the event defeating Nico Echavarria in a playoff.
The good news for Thorbjornsen is that the antibiotics “did the trick” and he didn’t need to have his tonsils removed.
The Stanford product followed his first-round 65 at La Quinta Country Club with a 4-under par 68 on the Nicklaus Tour Course.
Thorbjornsen is still looking for his first career PGA Tour victory. He has three career top-10 finishes, including a runner-up finish at last year’s John Deere Classic.
A breakthrough looks like it’s on the horizon for Thorbjornsen. His body and swing are in a good place, and his tonsils are cooperating.
“My tonsils are no longer touching each other, which is good,” Thorbjornsen said. “Yeah, everything feels good, no complaints.”
