Neither Jordan Spieth nor Will Zalatoris have had the best of seasons, but the two Texans, who have battled various injuries, are also battling for positioning heading into the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which begin next week. Speaking ahead of the 2024 Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, both players gave candid updates on their injury status.
“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,” said Spieth, referring to his irons. “It’s not hurting, but subconsciously it’s hard not to look at the numbers and think this isn’t a coincidence.”
Spieth, 31, has been dealing with a lingering left wrist injury and shared that he’s visited with several doctors and undergone multiple MRIs to determine the best course of action. Surgery could be in the offing, he conceded.
“Probably going to have to do something about it this offseason,” he said. “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.
“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. And I’ve never experienced anything like this before. Just trying to take my time making sure things are done right at the right time.”
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When pressed for more details on the pain he’s dealing with, Spieth said, “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, sublux 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. If it’s a problem at all, I’m not withdrawing from an event. It’s a very weird scenario and one that’s been a little frustrating because I would have liked to have known this is the answer or this is the answer and just have to figure it out…I’m pain free until it subluxes and then I’m in very much pain until I get it back.”
Spieth, who enters the week at No. 63 in the FedEx Cup and hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish since the Valero Texas Open in early April, pointed out that this injury is unrelated to a previous bone spur injury he dealt with in 2021.
“It’s not happening during my swing at all. But it like, it happened May of last year, October of last year and then it’s happened — now it happens like every other week, or every week-ish at one point in time,” he explained. “It doesn’t heal or get better, so it’s more of a way of life decision. Because I don’t have any — when I’m hitting balls I’m not thinking about it, I’m not worried about it, but I just don’t know subconsciously, it’s too tough to measure if or if it’s not making a difference. Yeah, I have no pain excuses or there’s no reason to play if you feel like you’re going to play through pain or not be at your best.”
Will Zalatoris at the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club.
Zalatoris always knew that he was going to need to be patient this season after having back surgery that sidelined him for eight months last year. He withdrew from the CJ Cup Byron Nelson ahead of the event in May to rest his back and withdrew from the Rocket Mortgage Classic in July, but claimed to be in good shape again.
“I think we really figured out some stuff after Detroit. I played a lot of golf this year. You know, I think it’s been a huge learning year where it’s a little bit of trial and error, some things have gone well, some things haven’t gone according to plan,” he said. “I feel awesome, I feel 100 percent. I think beforehand I didn’t really know what 100 percent was and now my speed with my longer clubs are back to what they were back in 2022, which is huge for me. I mean, there’s a big advantage to that out here on Tour, really being over 180 ball speed.”
But Zalatoris, 27, who enters the week at No. 43 in the FedEx Cup and without a top-10 finish since the Masters in April, said he takes comfort in knowing that he’s in a much better place than he was a year ago.
“The one thing that I think my surgeons really did a good job of telling me was that the first year your recovery’s going to kind of feel like a stock market where it goes up and down, but the line of best fit is going to hopefully trend up. I think that’s where for me, the moments of feeling really good at the start of this year, play six or seven events and then start kind of feeling a little bit of achiness in there and maybe need to get a cortisone shot or something like that. It’s a lot of ups and downs and I think I was mentally prepared for it. It gave me the patience that I needed to this first year,” he said. “I don’t like being patient, I don’t like going out and not being in contention like I’ve played the last three, four months, but it’s, like I said, it’s also motivated to get my body to where it needs to be and get my golf game back to where it needs to be.”
