As Jordan Spieth reached the 13th hole at the Travelers Championship, he knew he had to make a decision.
It was one he had never previously made across 297 starts in his PGA Tour career.
3
Spieth’s time at the Travelers Championship came to an early endCredit: Getty
The three-time major winner withdrew from the tournament due to severe pain in his neck and upper back.
At the time he pulled out, Spieth was five-over par through 12 holes at TPC River Highlands.
The 31-year-old first noticed the pain during his warmup but thought he would be able to manage it throughout the first round.
Jordan Spieth still can win career grand slam but must fix this problem first
“Everything was great in my gym session, and I’ve been very, very excited to go out and play,” Spieth said.
“Things have been getting better and better, and then my right scap just kind of locked — like tightened midway through the warmup, and I just kept hitting, and then all of a sudden it was moving up, everything around it started to — and then it was over the left and then it was like everything, so I stopped.
“It was both sides of my neck and upper back, and then I moved over to — I quit 30 minutes early from my warmup and came back to the table with my physio who was out there on the range … I just wasn’t moving very well … then I hit my tee shot on 13, and it legitimately really hurt.
“I was walking off that tee, and I’m like, if it’s even harder to turn, then I’m not going to be able to make a backswing that’s even useful, and that’s what happened on the bunker shot.”
Spieth tried to manage the pain by using a massage gun on his upper back during the round.
But it evidently became all too much on the 12th as Spieth said on the broadcast: “I just can’t do it, man. I just can’t finish a backswing.”
The American star insisted the injury was ‘very random’ given he went through his usual routines and preparation.
3
The 31-year-old had previously never withdrawn from a PGA Tour eventCredit: Getty
What made Spieth’s injury all the more untimely was the fact he believed his game was in a good place and was ‘very confident’ about his chances at TPC River Highlands.
Instead, he will now take some time off to recover ahead of welcoming his third child.
Perhaps he may adopt his method of recovery that followed a brutal U.S. Open at Oakmont, which involved throwing back some beers at a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant.
Although it was not to be for Spieth at the Travelers Championship, the same could not be said for the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
Scheffler is tied for the lead alongside Austin Eckroat at TPC River Highlands with a first round score of eight-under par.
McIlroy is two strokes behind on the leaderboard alongside Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley.
3
The pain in his neck and upper back became too much for Spieth to bearCredit: Getty
Clark’s solid start to the Travelers Championship comes after he smashed up a locker room at Oakmont in a major meltdown.
The incident occurred after he missed the cut after shooting a four-over par 74 in both the first and second rounds.
He later expressed his remorse over the incident, stating it was ‘a mistake that I deeply regret’.
Travelers Championship Leaderboard (after Round 1)
T1: Austin Eckroat -8
T1: Scottie Scheffler -8
T3: Wyndham Clark -6
T3: Rory McIlroy -6
T3: Keegan Bradley -6
6: Cameron Young -5
Eight players tied for 7th on -4
