Jordan Spieth ended his season on Sunday after a FedEx Cup playoff event and was already planning surgery on his left wrist that has troubled him for the past 16 months.
“I need to get the surgery done as soon as possible and then I’ll go through the process of what I’m supposed to do from there,” Spieth said after finishing with a double bogey (typically Spieth, he made a 30-foot putt to prevent it from getting worse) and a 74.
The problem is a tear in the sheath that holds the tendon in place in his left wrist. The first time it happened was a week before the 2023 PGA Championship, and Spieth has tried several treatments to avoid surgery. But it never got better and he could never predict how badly it would affect him.
Spieth said he has spoken to several people and the recovery is about three months, with physical therapy starting after the sixth week. He was nowhere near finishing in the top 50 at the FedEx Cup to advance, so he has time on his side.
“If I don’t have a reason to try to rush back — which I don’t — I’ll probably take it as slow as I can,” he said.
This was the second time Spieth failed to advance out of the first round of the postseason. He was No. 100 in the 2020 season when the top 125 qualified. Now only the top 70 make the postseason and Spieth was No. 63, needing a top-10 finisher to advance. He tied for 68th.
Spieth began the 2023 season with five top-six finishes before injuring his wrist and having to withdraw from the Byron Nelson. Since then, he has only managed four top-six finishes, plus a sixth-place finish against a 20-man field at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
He was ranked No. 10 in the world at the time of the injury. Spieth was No. 43 heading into the St. Jude Championship. He has missed the cut eight times this year in 21 tournaments.
“I kept trying not to make excuses because I wasn’t hurting when I was swinging,” Spieth said. “But it doesn’t seem like a coincidence considering the amount of time and the results are exactly the same every week. So I’m very hopeful.”
“I think there’s some clarity to get there,” he said. “There’s also some uncertainty, so it’s a little scary. But also, if I can learn to find some patience, which I’m not very good at, then I think I could come back stronger.”
Spieth called it the most frustrating year he has ever endured.
“I had to take on a lot of responsibilities and then I also had some unfortunate circumstances,” he said.
Spieth agreed to join the PGA Tour’s board of directors when Rory McIlroy abruptly resigned last November, just as the tour brought in Strategic Sports Group as an investor in trading company PGA Tour Enterprises while trying to secure investment from LIV Golf’s Saudi backers. At Pebble Beach this year, he played a practice round while wearing a headset so he could participate in a conference call.
Even more frustrating was his strong year of driving: He ranked 13th in the key statistical category off the tee. Spieth said that could be explained.
“Anything that impacted the ground was not a good scenario for me this year,” he said.
He declined to say when he would undergo the surgery, and he has time off. He is not eligible for The Sentry at Kapalua in early 2025. Spieth said that depending on his recovery, he could request an exemption for the Hero World Challenge in early December in the Bahamas.
Otherwise, he has no set plan.
“Apart from two children under 3, which makes it quite a bit more difficult with one arm,” he said.
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AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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