GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA | It was late Saturday afternoon, past dinnertime for many people, and Jordan Spieth was in the 18th fairway at rain-soaked Sedgefield Country Club, his week at the Wyndham Championship approaching a premature end.
The steamy air was thick as chowder, the breeze had gone missing, and Spieth had just made sloppy bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes to go from inside the cutline to two strokes outside it as he leaned over his long, uphill second shot.
Spieth didn’t watch his approach shot, kicking his right foot behind him after it left the club, and he walked straight toward his bag, handing the club to caddie Michael Greller before heading to the shadows to stew while his playing competitors hit their shots.
At the green, Spieth leaned against the base of a hospitality chalet and stared into the distance as Justin Rose and Will Zalatoris also finished missing the cut, his frustration palpable.
Encouraged by his play at the Open Championship, Spieth made a late decision to come to Sedgefield, intent on strengthening his playoff position at the end of a challenging season. Instead, two forgettable short-iron shots – once a strength – had proved costly.
The larger issue is what comes after the FedEx Cup playoffs which begin Thursday at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. Spieth, at 63rd in the points race, will need a big week to advance into the top 50 for the BMW Championship. Whenever his season ends, he anticipates having surgery on his left wrist.
For months now, Spieth has been bothered by a tendon that pops painfully out of place, forcing him to push it back where it belongs. It happens more frequently now, and though he usually plays pain free, Spieth can’t fully ignore the problem.
This offseason, Spieth said, surgery seems inevitable.
“I’m going to pretend nothing’s happening, fully trust it given that I’ll be able to get it fixed, and I know there’s a lot of golfers that have had similar situations and come back better than ever,” Spieth said last week.
“I like to think hopefully I have 10 to 15 years of prime and some of my best golf left, so I’ll be optimistic about the process. But I’m not quite sure exactly what I’ll do and where I’ll do it, but unfortunately something kind of has to get done.”
“I’m not in any pain playing; that’s what’s confusing. If I was, I wouldn’t have played anymore. It’s all off the golf course, weird little things where my tendon will kind of pop out, ... I’ve got to get it back in or else I wouldn’t be able to grip a club.”
jordan spieth
Doubt can be devastating, particularly at the professional level. It erodes commitment, often subconsciously, and that can be the difference between weekends in contention and weekends off.
Spieth’s statistics tell the story. He entered the Wyndham ranked 14th in strokes gained off the tee and an uncharacteristically low 116th in strokes gained approach.
“It’s been a frustrating year because it’s been maybe my best driving year ever, and then the clubs that I make the most impact into the ground with, which normally are my bread and butter, have been pretty off. It’s not hurting, but subconsciously it’s hard not to look at the numbers and think this isn’t a coincidence,” said Spieth, who does not have a top-10 finish since the Valero Texas Open in early April.
Trevor Immelman had his playing career rerouted by surgery on his left wrist after he won the 2008 Masters. His issues were not the same as what Spieth is dealing with, but he knows the effect of a wrist injury.
The discrepancy between Spieth’s driving stats and his iron play are telling.
“When the ball is on the tee, it’s fine,” Immelman said. “But when it’s on the ground and there’s interaction with the turf, it isn’t as good. The brain anticipates pain even if there isn’t any.
“I could feel the pain. When I got to the top of my swing, there was almost a flinch like the brain didn’t want [my swing] to go into the ground, so I would almost shy away from impact. That’s when I knew I had to get something done.”
Spieth’s issue doesn’t appear to be as severe as Immelman’s, but because the hands are the only part of a player’s body that touches the club, they are critical, a point Tiger Woods has made through the years.
“I’m not in any pain playing; that’s what’s confusing,” Spieth said. “If I was, I wouldn’t have played anymore. It’s all off the golf course, weird little things where my tendon will kind of pop out, sublux[ation] or dislocate out of the groove, and then I’ve got to get it back in or else I wouldn’t be able to grip a club.”
It happened last May and again in October, Spieth said. Since then, it’s happened every couple of weeks, sometimes more frequently.
The tour is better when Spieth is in contention. The way he plays, with artistry at the forefront, and his stream-of-consciousness commentary while he does it, is magnetic, but he hasn’t had a finish better than 25th in four months.
Eleven years ago, Spieth was an ascending star when he dueled Patrick Reed in a playoff at Sedgefield, ultimately losing on the second extra hole. Within two years, Spieth was having an epic year, and he remains one of the game’s most popular players though he has won just twice since his 2017 Open Championship victory at Royal Birkdale, his third major championship.
He’s a 31-year-old father now, and buddies Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas have had their own struggles as they’ve moved into what qualifies as middle-aged by tour standards. Spieth is also deeply invested in the PGA Tour’s governance at a critical moment, which siphons more time away.
After signing his card near sunset Saturday, Spieth stepped outside and started to walk away. He glanced to his left and saw a line of youngsters leaning against a fence, asking for his autograph.
Spieth walked over, signed some caps and some flags and posed for a few selfies, smiling as he did it.
Then he walked quietly to the parking lot.
E-MAIL RON
Top: Jordan Spieth
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