Jordan

Spieth

Spieth started the week at 31st in the FedExCup race, one spot out of the East Lake bubble with two weeks to improve his standing. The Texan peppered 15 greens in regulation (T4) and was a perfect 3-for-3 scrambling to keep a clean card. While things went well for him today, he didn’t feel like he had it in cruise control by any means, “I used the heel of the driver a lot today, and I don’t want to keep doing it. I’ve been driving the ball really, really nicely and everything kind of goes from there.” This will be his 13th time posting a first-round lead or co-lead and he’s gone on to win three of those previous 12 events.

Spieth arrived with some question marks with his health as he’s struggled in recent weeks while overcoming a wrist injury. We can dismiss the injury concerns after his tee-to-green clinic at Muirfield Village this week. He pelted 41 fairways (2nd) en route to 41 GIR (T19). He gained 10.3 strokes tee-to-green at week’s end which ranked fourth in the field. This was Spieth’s eighth career top 20 at Jack’s place. He will have a week to rest before taking on LACC for the U.S. Open.

Spieth battled wrist injuries in recent weeks and talked about the lack of practice reps holding him back. Providing an update after the round, he’s sounding more optimistic about the wrist. “It’s fine. I wouldn’t, I don’t notice it. It’s random little things like pushing a door wrong or getting jammed. It’s not a bother out on the golf course at all. I just tape it up to make sure that it doesn’t get any worse.” Spieth’s short game returned to form today as he gained 2.8 strokes around-the-green (2nd) and 1.3 strokes putting (25th). The Texan had arrived with seven top 20s in 10 tries at the Memorial and he’s right on pace for another one with three days remaining.

Spieth was a question mark this week due to a wrist injury that he’s been battling. He talked about giving away a few shots this week due to the way he felt about his wrist, but overall optimistic about the injury. " It’s kind of a week-to-week thing because if it feels any worse, I need to lay off of it, but just do the right recovery over the next couple of days. If anything, it should improve even more.” As of now, Spieth is committed to play three of the next four weeks (Charles Schwab Challenge, Memorial Tournament, U.S. Open). “I feel good. I feel like I’m going to just trend back upwards in that direction that I was a month ago.”

Spieth entered the week with some question marks as an injured wrist forced him to withdraw ahead of his home event in Dallas. After some rest and treatment, he feels confident that he’s ready for action this week, “Since last Wednesday afternoon I feel like I can get into every position with the speed that I want and produce the scores that I want. I’m just a little rusty on the reps.” Spieth missed the cut in his previous attempt at Oak Hill (2013) but that was his PGA Championship debut. He’s added four top 15s in nine tries since then but it remains the final piece of his career-grand-slam puzzle.

The Texan sat out last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson to rest his ailing wrist. It was not a decision taken lightly considering he’s an AT&T ambassador and it was also a hometown event for him. Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner reported on Spieth’s schedule today, saying he went through a 70-minute range session before heading out for nine holes alongside Jon Rahm. Spieth is expected to speak to media on Wednesday so we should know more about the wrist at that time. For now, he should be considered cautiously probable for this week’s event.

The Texan shared the news via social media, “Over the weekend, I had severe pain in my left wrist and had doctors confirm an injury that requires rest and limited movement.” He went on to talk about his love for the Byron Nelson event, a tournament that he’s played 11 times already in his career. Spieth had twirled three straight top 5s in stroke-play events before last week’s missed cut at the Wells Fargo Championship. His status is uncertain for next week’s PGA Championship.

The Texan raced out of the gate with birdies in four of the first six holes. “I didn’t know it was going to be this windy, and when we got started, I thought 5-under would get it done, to be honest. It was a really good round. I got off to a dream start and then just kind of hung in there for a little while and then made a nice putt to get into the playoff, and then played the playoff really well.” Spieth has spoken on fatigue in recent weeks but he continues to play his way into contention. He’ll now take a few weeks off before returning in Charlotte or Dallas.

Spieth put on a show on Sunday at Augusta National as he made a final charge up the board. It was too little too late but still an impressive finish. After the round he spoke on being fatigued mentally from playing such a busy schedule in the lead-up. He spoke on the physical fatigue today, “It’s nothing new. But I don’t normally have 27 holes on Sunday of Augusta right before. So that’s a hard walk. It’s not a hard walk this week, but it requires a lot of focus, you can’t really take a play off here because it tests pretty much every shot. You can get into trouble pretty quickly.” He arrives with top 5s in three of his last four stroke-play events so he’s doing a good job of managing that fatigue.

Spieth swallowed a 4-over 76 in round three but still found his name on page one at week’s end. Today, he piped 12-of-14 fairways en route to 13 GIR, gaining nearly three strokes on approach along the way. “When you’re that far back, you have to have everything go right. It was close, but I should have done a lot better in those first three rounds. I made a tremendous amount of mental mistakes. To be this close now, it’s nice, but it also almost frustrates me more because I made some mistakes I don’t normally make out here, and it was more decision errors than anything else.” The 2015 Masters champ now has seven finishes of T11 or better in 10 tries at the Masters.