Spieth's Wrist Injury Still 'Week-To-Week' And Could Force Him Out Again

Jordan Spieth needs to continue monitoring his wrist injury which could force him to stop playing again at any time

jordan spieth
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Jordan Spieth has revealed the nature of his wrist injury, which he hopes will not get any worse over a crucial stretch of the season but which requires constant monitoring.

The three-time Major champion says the diagnosis was "a moderate grade tendon sheath tear" in his wrist, which forced him out of the Byron Nelson and put his participation in the PGA Championship in doubt.

Spieth returned to play at Oak Hill with his wrist taped up, but says it performed well and got better through all four rounds of the second Major of the year.

Now it's a case of constant monitoring and daily recovery work on it, but he warned that it could get worse at any point - which would force him to stop playing immediately.

"At this point, I don't feel like I'm rushing things," said Spieth. "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."

There's a bit of mystery with the injury as the seriousness of the problem can vary greatly, so it'll be a difficult one to manage for Spieth, who can't just take a painkiller like he does on a separate hand injury.

"It's a pretty vague thing because it can be pretty significant and it can be very insignificant," he added.

Jordan Spieth plays a shot from a bunker on the 14th hole on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass

(Image credit: Getty Images)

"The tendon itself is in a really good spot, which is most important. Then there's some damage there, but not enough to be massively concerning as long as I'm listening to it. 

"I have a bone spur in the same hand. This hand has caused me issues over the last five years or so. But I have another issue that can't get worse, it's just pain management. So you can shoot that up to help with pain management at times.

"This is one I didn't want to do because it can get worse and I need to listen to it. Just a ton of manual therapy to ice, laser, stim, because it can heal itself but there's not a lot of blood flow in the area so sometimes it takes a little longer.

"I just keep on staying in touch with specialists. They would err on the side of caution, and if they're pretty comfortable and I feel good about it, then I say why not play?

Spieth revealing that he's dealing with a number of problems in his hand and wrist doesn't bode too well with such a busy and intense stretch coming up over the summer.

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Paul Higham
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Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website.  Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.