Jordan Spieth’s season is over as he failed to place himself among the top 50 golfers after the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship, but his offseason is just getting started. The former No. 1 player in the world and three-time major winner said on Sunday that he will have surgery on his left wrist, which has been an issue for him most of the last two years.
“I’ve got to have it operated on ASAP, and then I’ll go through the process of what I’m supposed to do from there,” Spieth told the Associated Press in Memphis at TPC Southwind.
Already on the cutline before the St. Jude Championship began, Spieth did nowhere near enough to get inside the top 50 and advance to the BMW Championship in Colorado next week. Therefore, his season is over.
It is just the second time since 2012 that Spieth has finished outside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings; the other instance came in the 2019-20 season when he finished 107th. The former top-10 player in the world entered the St. Jude Championship ranked No. 43 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
It has been a strange season for Spieth, who had his best driving year in the last decade. His approach play was abysmal, though, and he finished with just three top 20s in 22 worldwide starts.
Spieth relayed that the recovery time on the sheath that holds his tendon in place is three months: “If I don’t have a reason to try to rush back, which I don’t, I’ll probably just take it as slow as I can.
The next PGA Tour event Spieth would likely play in will not happen for over four months. Because he finished in the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings, there is no real reason for him to play the fall schedule, which he will not.
“I think there’s some clarity in getting it done,” he added. “There’s also some uncertainty, and so it’s a little scary. But also, if I can learn to find some patience, which I’m not very good at doing, then I think I could come back stronger.”
Initially injuring the wrist in May 2023, Spieth implied last week at the Wyndham Championship that surgery was inevitable before officially confirming the decision Sunday.
“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,” he said. “It’s not hurting, but subconsciously, it’s hard not to look at the numbers and think this isn’t a coincidence. I’ve been taking trips out as well as being in contact with a lot of doctors, getting it scanned again and trying to figure out what the next move is.”
The wrist surgery does not appear to be career-threatening the way Spieth is speaking about it. While any operation is frustrating for a professional golfer or athlete, Spieth appears positive and even enthusiastic about what he has left in the tank.
“I like to think, hopefully, I have 10-15 years of prime and some of my best golf left, so I’ll be optimistic about the process,” he said at the Wyndham Championship.” 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.”
