Jordan Spieth was gearing up for a strong showing at the Travelers Championship, the final Signature Event of the season. He had been playing some of the best golf of his life, with four top-10 finishes in 2025, including a stellar fourth-place finish at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson in his home state.
As he warmed up for the tournament, Spieth felt a sudden tightness in his right scapula. He tried to push through the pain, but it quickly spread to both sides of his neck and upper back. Despite his best efforts, Spieth couldn’t shake off the discomfort, and it began to affect his swing.
After hitting his tee shot on the 13th hole, Spieth knew he had to stop. The pain had become too much, and he couldn’t even make a backswing. He called for a rules official, unsure of the protocol for withdrawing mid-round, and reluctantly left the course.
“It was both sides of my neck and upper back,” Spieth explained after the round. “I quit 30 minutes early from my warm-up and came back to the table with my physio who was out there on the range… I just wasn’t moving very well… then I hit my tee shot on 13, and it legitimately really hurt.”
Spieth’s withdrawal marked the first time in 297 PGA Tour starts that he had been forced to withdraw from a tournament. He was visibly disappointed, having been looking forward to a strong finish to the season. Spieth was eager to get healthy and focus on his family.
“Yeah, it’s incredibly frustrating because this was 10 out of 12 for me, and I was looking at this being the strongest one, and I was very confident about that,” Spieth said. “Everything I had done in practice and the pro-am showed me it’s going to be a really good event. It’s just a very weird circumstance. so I’ll have some time off now, obviously, to get healthy.”
Spieth’s is hopeful that he’ll be back on the course soon. With a few days of rest and rehab, he might be ready to tee it up again, potentially in time for the Open Championship.
Spieth’s Strong Season Hit with Setback: Neck and Back Injury Forces Withdrawal
