Jordan Spieth Staring Down His Last Chance to Make a Difference in 2024
With a left wrist that could need surgery, the 31-year-old is in North Carolina this week, hoping to better his position going into the playoffs.
No one’s 2024 season has been more surprising than Jordan Spieth, who is closing in on a second full season of not winning.
It’s been 844 days since Spieth put on the plaid jacket after a playoff win over Patrick Cantlay at the RBC Heritage, and for the 31-year-old, it must feel like an eternity.
Since then, Spieth has played in 53 events and has not won.
That is surprising, especially when Spieth’s Stroked Gained Off-the-Tee stat is ranked 14th on the PGA Tour in 2024.
Spieth had always been the guy who drove the ball crookedly, figured it out spectacularly and didn’t struggle in any other aspect of his game.
Now, whether it’s long irons, short irons or putting, it’s an anchor for Spieth, with not even pedestrian numbers if you look at the Strokes Gained ranking for those categories this season.
The three-time major winner explained in North Carolina before the Wyndham Classic that his issues with his left wrist are the reason.
“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,” Spieth said. “It’s not hurting, but subconsciously, it’s hard not to look at the numbers and think this isn’t a coincidence.”
Spieth has made numerous trips to the doctor, having his wrist scanned and trying to figure out his next move.
The plan is still unclear; it could mean surgery or something else, but it needs to be addressed.
“I know there’s a lot of golfers that have had similar situations and come back better than ever,” Spieth said. “I like to think that, hopefully, I have 10 to 15 years of prime and some of my best golf left, so I’ll be optimistic about the process. 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.”
Golfers can win at any age, and in the new world of fine-tuning equipment, launch monitors and specialized coaches, the game is changing fast, giving 40-somethings a chance to win more proficiently on the PGA Tour.
Yet it’s hard to think that Spieth, in his early 30s, could win at the prodigious rate he did between 2015 and 2017.
Ten wins, three majors and eight runner-up finishes. For many, that is a career, but for Spieth, it seemed to be just the beginning.
But since 2018, he has two wins and five runner-up finishes. It is not getting any easier on the PGA Tour with a Tiger-like Scottie Scheffler, who wins almost every event he enters.
Spieth will be in the first FedEx Cup Playoff event in Memphis, Tennessee, but hopes his play at Wyndham, combined with his play at St. Jude’s, will propel him further in the playoff before his season ends and the wrist is addressed.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” Spieth said of his wrist. “Just trying to take my time ensuring things are done right at the right time.”
