Jordan Spieth was very optimistic on Wednesday following a practice round at Oak Hill Country Club (Rochester, New York), the site of this year’s PGA Championship. Spieth’s status was up in the air earlier in the week, after he had to withdraw from the Byron Nelson Classic due to an injury in his left wrist. Following a nine-hole practice round on Wednesday, Spieth said he feels pleased about how the wrist has improved after receiving treatment.
He’s very happy with the progress of the left wrist
“It’s not fun if you don’t think you’ve got a chance to win,” Speith said. “[But] if I felt like I was limited in a way that would affect my chances then there’d be no reason for me to feel like playing, because then I could further damage it and that’s not worth it,” he said in speaking with Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard. “But 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.”
Hoggard noted that Spieth had his left wrist and forearm taped. And Spieth managed the course on a windy day with very few limitations. “It’s more like any [shot] that I have to flick over, like a high bunker shot or a high flop shot, and you wouldn’t really have those as often as any other shot,” said Spieth, who played the back nine on Tuesday at Oak Hill. “I just don’t have the reps I’d like to have going into a major, but I’m happy I’m able to play because I certainly didn’t think so a week ago.”
The injury was “random” at happened while Spieth was at his house in Dallas, Texas. The former Texas Longhorn has undergone a number of treatments and therapies on the wrist including stem cell, laser, and cold therapies.
Jordan Spieth had been playing exceptional golf in 2023
He recently missed the cut at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. That was in large part, due to the pain he was experiencing in that left wrist. Before the injury, Spieth had been playing exceptional golf, with four top five finishes in his last five tournaments. That’s including an excellent showing at the Masters, where he finished T4.
The 2023 PGA Championship gets underway Thursday morning. Spieth will be paired with Viktor Hovland and Shane Lowry on Thursday. The trio will tee off at 8:22 AM on hole No. 10.
More must-reads: