"Unfortunately I will be withdrawing from the 101st PGA Championship at Bethpage Black this week as my wrist is not yet fully healed," Thomas said in a statement. "Obviously, as a past champion, this tournament is extra special to me. It consistently has the strongest field in golf and I'm disappointed to not be among those competing this year but I'm optimistic about a return in the near future."<doc-sep>Justin Thomas, the 2017 PGA Champion, has withdrawn from this weekend’s PGA Championship due to a wrist injury. The tournament announced the news moments ago. Thomas has been dealing with a wrist issue, and it kept him out of the Wells Fargo Championship earlier this month. He finished tied for 12th at the Masters in April. In addition to winning the PGA Championship two years ago, Thomas finished tied for sixth at the event last year. The 26-year-old has three top-10 major finishes in his young career. Thomas was one of the betting favorites for this weekend’s event, but now he will be replaced by Kelly Kraft. NEW: 2017 PGA Champion Justin Thomas has withdrawn from the 2019 PGA Championship due to a wrist injury. Kelly Kraft of Dallas, Texas, will take his spot in the field.#PGAChamp — PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 13, 2019 The 2019 PGA Championship tees off on Thursday from Bethpage Black Course in Long Island. Brooks Koepka won last year’s event and is one of the top contenders for this year’s title. Masters winner Tiger Woods has been installed as the betting favorite. Stick with The Spun all weekend long for PGA Championship coverage.<doc-sep>Justin Thomas withdrew from the 2019 PGA Championship on Monday due to a wrist injury that also kept him out of the Wells Fargo Championship earlier this month. Thomas, the 2017 PGA Championship winner, finished T12 at the Masters, which is the last tournament he played this season. He had four top 10s in five events to start 2019. "Unfortunately, I will be withdrawing from the 101st PGA Championship at Bethpage Black this week as my wrist is not yet fully healed," Thomas said in a statement released on Twitter. "Obviously, as a past champion, this tournament is extra special to me. It consistently has the strongest field in golf and I'm disappointed to not be among those competing this year, but I'm optimistic about a return in the near future." Thomas was one of the handful of favorites at Bethpage Black this week, as he should have been. Only five golfers have beaten him in the last two PGAs, and he finished T10 at the 2016 Barclays at Bethpage. In fact, he probably should have been even higher up the list of oddsmakers' favorites. An injury like this keeping somebody like Thomas out of a major should be taken seriously regarding the future. There are few golfers (if any) who crave the competition of a major championship and desire those four trophies more than Thomas, especially at a course where he's had success before and a tournament he's cruised at the last two seasons. Though he pulled out of Quail Hollow (where he actually won the 2017 PGA Championship) two weeks ago, there didn't seem to be a ton of cause for concern as it was presumed to be cautionary and other golfers were relaxing and taking time off between the first two majors of 2019. Now there is certainly cause for concern as the rest of Thomas' 2019 major slate (at least) seems up in the air. Thomas is currently ranked No. 5 in the world, and as of now, he will be the only top 100 player in the Official World Golf Rankings not in attendance at Bethpage. He's also one of just three golfers on the PGA Tour averaging more than 2.0 strokes gained per round on the field this season, an achievement he shares with Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson. His last win was at the 2018 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Kelly Kraft of Dallas, Texas, will take Thomas' spot in the field, the PGA announced Monday.<doc-sep>
Justin Thomas withdrew from the PGA Championship on Monday due to an injury in his right wrist, he announced on Twitter. “Unfortunately, I will be withdrawing from the 101st PGA Championship at Bethpage Black this week as my wrist is not yet fully healed,” Thomas tweeted. “Obviously, as a past champion, this tournament is extra special to me. It consistently has the strongest field in golf and I’m disappointed to not be among those competing this year but I’m optimistic about a return in the near future.” Thomas first hurt his wrist during The Honda Classic in March after playing an awkward shot, and has battled the injury ever since. He has played in three events since then, and most recently finished in a tie for 12th at the Masters last month. The 26-year-old, who won the PGA Championship in 2017, has five top-10 finishes already this year — including three straight in February at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, the Genesis Open and the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship. The nine-time Tour winner last won at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August. Kelly Kraft will take Thomas’ place in the tournament. The 30-year-old has missed four of his last five cuts, though finished in a tie for 13th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in April. The PGA Championship kicks off on Thursday at Bethpage Black in New York, which is hosting the event for the first time. Ninety-nine of the top 100 in the World Golf Rankings are set to compete in the annual event, including defending champion Brooks Koepka and Tiger Woods — who is making his first return to the Tour since winning the Masters last month. Due to a right wrist injury, Justin Thomas will not compete in the PGA Championship this week at Bethpage Black. (David Cannon/Getty Images) More from Yahoo Sports: