FORT WORTH, Texas — Jordan Spieth can be unpredictable on a golf course. Pulled drive, miraculous recovery, lipped-out short putt, nothing’s out of the question when the 13-time PGA Tour winner is navigating his way through a tournament.
But get Spieth off the golf course, and he’s prone to the same mundane mishaps as the rest of us.
For example, when it was first revealed that Spieth had injured his wrist, forcing him to withdraw from the AT&T Byron Nelson, his hometown event, few could have conjured a more boring backstory.
Spieth told the media at the Charles Schwab Challenge that the cause of his injury wasn’t anything thrilling, but rather a strange tweak while playing with his 18-month-old son, Sammy.
“I was just playing with my son. I wasn’t even holding him or anything. I was just pushing myself off the ground while he was like laughing and going side to side. Something just popped and jammed, and then all of a sudden, I couldn’t move it and got on it right away,” Spieth said. “Ended up with an MRI the next morning and went through a few specialists and tried to figure out the right plan for it.
“I was pretty surprised I was able to play last week. … So I thought, if I could get through four rounds and I was not going to make anything worse or jeopardize anything going forward, then I thought it would be worth it and you just never know. Turns out you can’t really kind of fake it into a major. You kind of really need to be as prepared as possible.”
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Spieth didn’t fare poorly at Oak Hill, but after a slow start — he shot 73 in the first round — he clawed his way back to a top-30 finish with a 69 on Sunday.
He’s hoping for an even better showing this week at Colonial, a place where he consistently played well. Spieth has posted eight top-10 finishes in 10 starts at this historic track and after putting the wrist through the rigors of a souped-up Oak Hill, he believes he should be ready to complete this week.
“I just don’t see it Jordan.”
Classic mic’d up moments between @JordanSpieth and Michael Greller @CSChallengeFW
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“I got better each day, and hand held up, wrist held up really well. At this point, I don’t feel like I’m rushing things,” Spieth said. “I think I’m on par with following the docs I’ve talked to, and it’s kind of a week-to-week thing because it’s something that can get worse, and if it does, I need to cut it off immediately.
“Ideally, I make it through this stretch, then have a little break in the summer prior to the Scottish, and that rest will probably help a lot. But I’m doing a lot of recovery stuff day to day that I’m not used to doing, but it’s been helping.”
The 29-year-old University of Texas product has five top-10 finishes this season, including a T-4 at the Masters, and was a lip-out away in a playoff with Matt Fitzpatrick from defending his title at the RBC Heritage in April and recording his 14th career Tour title.
And at Colonial, he has one victory (in 2016) and three runner-up showings. He’s hoping for more magic this week, assuming his wrist can handle the load.
“I’ve had some great memories here. This week feels like a home game without maybe the extra that the Byron is for me,” Spieth said. “So I’m able to stay at home, but I also kind of feel … I feel the support without maybe the added-ness that I always kind of felt at the Byron. And it’s a course that’s fit my game really well over the years.
“So really excited. Game’s been in a really good place this year, continuing on an upward trajectory.”