Jordan Spieth had high hopes for 2025, ready to turn a fresh, healthy page after battling wrist issues for nearly two years. But his return to competitive golf hasn’t gone exactly as planned. After wrist surgery last summer, Spieth made his long-awaited comeback at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this month, his first competitive round in over five months. However, things took a frustrating turn early on.

Spieth revealed at the WM Phoenix Open that he aggravated the wrist on his very first hole at Pebble Beach, saying, “I had to flick one and it jammed it pretty good, and it locked up on me for a little while. My wrist kind of hurt in the first round last week and I went away from all the work that I had been doing just to kind of manipulate what I could, and then I said, you know what, I just have to get through it,” Despite the pain, he pushed through and shot 2-under 70 in the first round, but the discomfort lingered.

But at the Genesis Invitational, he ended up missing the cut. His wrist gave him problems again there. “It’s been a tough week on the wrist. I wasn’t sure if I’d hit one more shot like my shot on 16 yesterday, I wasn’t going to finish the first round. I was OK to go today, but this cold, wet weather and third week in a row, it was not good for it,” Spieth said following a second-round 74 at Torrey Pines. Now, he’s back to try his luck for a win at the Cognizant Classic.

Spieth missed four events on the PGA Tour and also did not play at the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour. He wanted to ensure that his process of recovery was completely done so that he could hit back better. “So that was my goal, and I ended up waiting another two weeks to play and started at Pebble Beach,” said Spieth ahead of the Cognizant Classic.

He had his wrist surgery in August, right after the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where he finished T68. He had stated earlier only that he’ll be choosing off-season to help him resolve the injury. While it might seem like he had enough time, it was not actually the case. “Yeah, I mean, it was actually — it was pretty easy for the first 12 to 16 weeks because I’m just following directions, and there weren’t other tournaments being played. I believe if I had this done, this surgery, this week, and then you watch the next 12 weeks, that would be incredibly challenging not to try to rush things.” He had to put in a lot of effort to catch up with the game. 

Talking about his struggle, he said, “I started as, maybe, a low- to mid-single-digit handicapper as I came back, and I needed to work my way about 15 shots better by the time I were to play a tournament, and that didn’t quite happen, but then it got better as the stretch went on. Yeah, it was a unique experience that I don’t wish upon anybody, and hope I don’t have to go through it again. But I had a great team around me that, you know, I had directions in place that, you know, what could have been an eight-week recovery, was pushed to 12, that turned into really 16 before full go, for no other reason than just to let everything heal and take away the 1 percent chance that anything bad could happen.”

“It’s not normal. I don’t wake up in the morning and my two hands feel the same by any means. But by the time I get going, the idea is that once I tee off on the first hole, I don’t think about it all day, and I was able to do that, for the most part, in the last three weeks. There were a couple of stretches here and there where it bothered me, but from the guys I talked to that have had similar operations, that’s normal, and about the year mark is when they really started to forget about it,” he continued opening up about his hardships. 

Despite having an amazingly supportive team by his side, Jordan Spieth has still not recovered fully. He will continue playing, aiming towards a bigger goal.

Jordan Spieth’s goal is to grab a win at the Masters

Spieth’s primary goal now is to be in peak form when he returns to Augusta National in April, where he has already enjoyed success, back in 2015. He recalled his past victories and close calls at Augusta, saying, “I feel like the West Coast was kind of a let’s see how everything is feeling post-surgery.” He added that while he wasn’t ready to play in the early part of the season, it was reassuring to get back into contention for a week.

In preparation for the Masters, Spieth is focused on playing tough golf courses and pushing himself into contention, in the hopes of improving his game. He shared that his goal is “to try to play difficult golf courses and work my way into contention and just see what I can improve upon by the time we get to Augusta.”  

Spieth is also determined to stay in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup standings, stating, “I don’t like finishing outside the top 50 with the new system.” His uncertainty about his playing schedule for the rest of the season means he’s playing catch-up.

As Spieth continues his journey back to top form, his drive to improve and perform at Augusta will surely keep golf fans excited. Keep watching his progress as he navigates this challenging yet hopeful return to the game. How do you think Spieth will fare at the Masters this year? Let us know in the comments section below!