Eyes on Jordan Spieth at Byron Nelson after Will Zalatoris’ setback | Golf Today | Golf Channel

Rex Hoggard reports from TPC Craig Ranch and joins the Golf Today crew to discuss why Will Zalatoris’ withdrawing from the CJ Cup Byron Nelson is “much ado about nothing” on the surface after a back flare-up, expectations for Jordan Spieth and more. #GolfChannel #GolfToday #jordanspieth #willzalatoris
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Eyes on Jordan Spieth at Byron Nelson after Will Zalatoris’ setback | Golf Today | Golf Channel
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with more from TPC Craig Grant we
welcome in Rex hoger Rex great to see
you but we know what will zorus has put
his body through including surgery how
much of a setback is this
news well first and foremost it’s a hit
for the field he was the highest ranked
player in the field he’s a Dallas guy I
think there was going to be a lot of
fans out here to watch him continue that
comeback that he started last year in
the Bahamas I traded text briefly with
his performance Coach Josh Gregory he
told me he was quote 100% fine and as
you pointed out said he just needed some
this sounds like off the top that it’s
kind of a schedule crunch you look at
what he has been through really the last
few days he played last week in the team
event in New Orleans of course he played
the Masters he played Hilton Head we’re
getting into a very busy stretch I think
this was probably the prudent decision
anytime you have a player that has gone
through everything that Willie has when
it comes to his surgery and the health
issues that he withdraws it’s always
going to send up some red flags but it
seems like on the surface this has much
to do about nothing Rex with zeelot
Taurus now out the entire focus of the
tournament of course turns to Jordan spe
he did not play in this tournament a
year ago because of a wrist issue it is
still hampering him at least to some
extent what’s your level of concern when
it comes to Jordan spe and how he’s
played so far in
2024 I think when it comes to Jordan I
have concern I have excitement and
everything else in between you and I
talk a lot about this that I don’t think
there’s anyone on the PGA tour right now
who is as entertaining to watch play
golf as Jordan Speed simply because he
has no unspoken thoughts everything on
the golf course is being exchange
between he and his caddy Michael grer
and we we actually referenced this a few
weeks ago when I was in San Antonio for
the Texas open and I had a chance to
talk with Jordan just kind of about the
idea if he’s moving in the right
direction does he feel like whatever
changes he’s working on with his team
are working out and he said he’s having
a hard time separate the results from
the process by that the results simply
haven’t been there but he feels like
he’s dedicated to the process but it is
getting to the point where you can tell
he is aggravated Rex is understandable
Jordan Speed is one of the best players
of this generation that has only two
victories since 2017 are we getting to a
point where you know the the a four
mentioned resume kind of outshines the
where Jordan spe is right now and he’s
not one of the best players in the world
anymore well you look at where he is in
the world ranking he is 20th right now
and he is the only top 20 player in the
field this week so I still think he is
keeping Pace with some other players
that are around him but no he’s not that
top five player that we saw pick a time
2015 2016 when he was in full flight and
he was doing things that we really
hadn’t seen since Tiger Woods and a lot
of this stems from as Ryan pointed out
that there were injuries and injuries
that he continues to deal with but I
think the other half of this is he lost
a lot of confidence over the last few
years first with his swing then with his
short game it’s going to take time if it
if it AA comes back because he always he
puts so much energy so much emotion into
being able to do incredible things on
and around the greens we were never
surprised when he made a big prop putt
or chipped in now he doesn’t seem to
have the confidence to pull that off and
I feel like that was a huge part of who
Jordan Speed was you mentioned the hit
to the field earlier in this segment now
just three top 30 players in the field
at the CJ cup Byron Nelson which which
is not all that uncommon for these full
field events on the PJ tour what’s your
sense of how this is resonating with
golf fans the split between the
Signature Events we know the best
players are going to be competing and
these full field events which offer
offer an opportunity for the ranking
file I think last week the team event in
New Orleans desser classic was a bit of
an outlier because you ended up with
Rory maroy and Shane Lowry doing really
special things and winning in a playoff
and I think there was a lot of
excitement around that but it’s hard to
carry that momentum in when you have as
you pointed out really just one top 20
player Jordan spe is going to have to
carry the flag this week now we have
seen earlier in the season you’ve seen
those events that are in between the
signature tournaments those events that
are giving players an opportunity to
play their way into the events however
in this particular case I don’t know how
much it’s resonating with the fans
because you and I can talk about the Aon
swing five and Aon swing 10 and talk
about how important it is to play well
this week to get in to next week the
Wells Fargo another signature event but
I don’t think it’s quite registered with
the fans just yet understandable if
there’s a bit of a
postmasters lull I get it how much of
the onus is on the PGA tour in the midst
of these negotiations with the piff for
example to think outside the box to keep
trying to be Innovative and to do things
in a different way to keep those golf
fans
engaged I think pushing the envelope is
really important and we’re seeing that
right now the the comparisons between
the Signature Events the majors and then
the full field events you do need to do
something different I think the PGA Tour
the players have acknowledged this I
think maxom has probably been one of the
more outspoken players when it comes to
this I I reported this a few weeks ago
at at Hilton Head that there was a
player meeting there was a player
advisor council meeting and Theo Epstein
the former Boston Red Sox executive
spoke to the players about the idea of
trying to create a new product it’s what
they did in baseball we look at how much
time they cut off the average baseball
game that resonated with the fans it
made the game seem a little bit
refreshed it made the game seem a little
bit younger that’s what golf is trending
to right now and go to last week’s news
about the equity program that has a lot
to do with the idea that the tour wants
to make every player believe that
they’re an owner of their own tour so
not only did they buy in and they remain
loyal to the PGA tour but they also
understand that they have to go out of
their way to make the product better and
that’s probably going to take some new
thoughts and some new experiments the
fans wanted and needed