MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Jordan Spieth ended his season Sunday after one FedEx Cup qualifier and was already planning to have surgery on his left wrist, which has bothered him for the past 16 months.
“I’ve got to get it done right away, and then go through the process of what I have to do from there,” Spieth said after finishing with a double bogey — vintage Spieth, making 30. -foot putt to keep it from being bad — and a 74.
Ironically, there is a torn shell on his left wrist holding the artery in place. It started happening a week before the 2023 PGA Championship, and Spieth tried various treatments to avoid surgery. But it didn’t get better, and he couldn’t predict how badly it would affect him.
Spieth said he has talked to several people and recovery is about three months, with physical therapy starting after week six. He didn’t come close to finishing inside 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 just take it as slow as I can,” he said.
It was the second time Spieth failed to get out of the first round of the postseason. He was number 100 in the 2020 season when the top 125 are eligible. Now only the top 70 reach the postseason and Spieth was No. 63, needing a top-10 to advance. He tied for 68.
Spieth started the 2023 season with five top-six finishes before a wrist injury forced him out of that year’s Byron Nelson. He’s had just four top-six appearances since then, including a sixth-place finish against a 20-man field at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
He was number 10 in the world when he was injured. This season, Spieth was No. 43 heading into St. Jude Championship. They have been relegated eight times this year in 21 matches.
“I kept trying not to catch myself because it didn’t hurt when I was swinging,” said Spieth. “But it doesn’t seem to be a coincidence based on the timing, and the results are exactly the same every week. So I’m very optimistic.”
“I think there’s something clear in doing this,” he said. “There’s uncertainty, so it’s a little scary. But then again, if I can learn to be patient — which I can’t do — then I think I can come back stronger.”
Spieth called it the most frustrating year he has ever endured.
“I put a lot on my plate and then I had some bad situations,” he said.
Spieth agreed to join the PGA Tour board when Rory McIlroy abruptly resigned last November, at a time when the tour brought in Strategic Sports Group as an investor in PGA Tour Enterprises while trying to secure investment from Saudi backers of LIV Golf. At Pebble Beach this year, he played a practice round using ear buds to be part of a conference call.
What was even more frustrating was that he was having a great year driving — he was tied for 13th in the most important statistical category off the tee. Spieth said that can be explained.
“Anything that touched the ground was not a good thing for me this year,” he said.
He declined to say when he will have the surgery, and he has time on his hands. He is not eligible to be The Sentry at Kapalua until early 2025. Spieth said that depending on his recovery, he may request an exemption from the Hero World Challenge in early December in the Bahamas.
Other than that, he has no set plans.
“Except for two children under the age of 3, which makes it difficult with one arm,” he said.
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