Michael Thorbjornsen thought he was healthy enough to begin his 2025 season at last week’s Sony Open in Hawaii, but things changed Thursday morning when he contracted tonsillitis upon arriving in Hawaii. It was a frustrating development for Thorbjornsen, who also missed time with a knee injury last fall. He withdrew from the Sony at 5:50 a.m. local time Thursday.

Thorbjornsen is feeling better now – no surgery was needed; antibiotics did the trick – and his game is there too. He opened in 7-under 65 at La Quinta Country Club, three off J.T. Poston’s early lead in the Coachella Valley. (There will be a 54-hole cut to the top 65 players and ties; the final round will be contested at the Pete Dye Stadium Course.)

“The day I arrived (at the Sony Open) is kind of when it hit me, and I was stuck in bed for three days straight,” Thorbjornsen said Thursday. “It was really, really bad. Yeah, obviously kind of past that now, got some good reps, came out here I think Saturday, so got an extra day of practice, and kind of got things back in order.

“I think Tuesday was the worst day. Those three days feel like one day, but, yeah, we were thinking, okay, if I sleep really well, if I feel good enough, even if, I mean, it's not completely healed, if I can just manage to scrounge out maybe 1-, 2-under, I'll feel even better for the next day and have a later tee time. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep great, woke up in the morning, and didn't feel any better, so that's kind of when we decided to withdraw.”

Thorbjornsen, 23, finished No. 1 on the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking, earning PGA TOUR status through 2025. He flashed his potential last summer, finishing runner-up at the John Deere Classic, and he added a pair of T8s in the FedExCup Fall – including at The RSM Classic, his first start since withdrawing from the Black Desert Championship the month prior with a left-knee injury.

PGA TOUR University alums have quickly showcased their mettle in the golf world – including Thorbjornsen’s predecessor at No. 1, Ludvig Åberg in 2023, who currently stands No. 6 on the Official World Golf Ranking. Thorbjornsen has some legwork to reach Åberg’s level, but he has the requisite firepower; Thursday marked his sixth PGA TOUR score of 65 or lower since turning pro last summer.

The Stanford alum will need plenty more birdies to keep pace at The American Express, where Nick Dunlap won at 29-under a season ago. Dunlap won as a college sophomore at age 20 (turning pro within the next week), and although Thorbjornsen is three years older, he certainly aligns with the youth movement taking shape in the Coachella Valley. And a healthy Thorbjornsen is a dangerous one.

“My tonsils aren’t touching each other, which is good,” Thorbjornsen said Thursday.