“I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m in the top 10 entering Sunday here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m not,” Jordan Spieth had theorized ahead of his AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, having recovered from a “gnarly” wrist injury. And boy, has that second premonition come true…

But before we get to the meat of the story: Let’s understand that the 31-year-old has been a past winner at Pebble Beach in 2017. In fact, he also has three top-10 finishes in the event in his past five starts. So, of course, people had expected him to make, at least, some impact. However, given the seriousness of the injury, even Spieth didn’t seem too optimistic.

For the unversed, the former World No. 1 has been plagued by discomfort in his left wrist since 2018. However, in 2023, things reached a tipping point when Spieth reportedly had to “pop” his tendon back in place several times. “I had to pop it back into place like 50 times,” the golfer said of that year’s ‘The Open Championship’.

In another instance, it was during the 2024 British Open that the veteran finally decided enough was enough. “I got [the tendon] back in before I hit my tee shot, and that’s when I thought maybe that’s the last straw. Maybe we should probably do something about this. I don’t really feel like playing like this anymore. A real ball, if I hit more than 40, 50 yards hurt pretty bad on impact,” he told Jim Nantz at a Q&A Wednesday night earlier this month.

Thankfully, Spieth availed the medical intervention when needed—getting surgery after he was eliminated from the FedEx Cup playoffs—and has been on a steady path to recovery since then. Yet, there’s a heartbreaking reality that awaits…

Jordan Spieth knows it’ll only get worse before it gets better. Appearing at Pebble Beach, thanks to sponsor’s exemption, Spieth talked about the opening round where he garnered a 2-under 70. “Today would have probably felt like the hardest day to shoot a score, and I felt like I didn’t play great, and I shot 2 under. So that’s a really good sign. It’s just the little things, like the little off-speed shots, the hanging lies, the pins are tucked — they’re not in the middle of the green like they are at home. The mental side is picking conservative targets with aggressive swings and not thinking you can just go at everything,” he said as per the New York Times.

Unfortunately, things took a more grim downward turn in the next two rounds. Opening the second round with a bogey, he finished at an even par, and in the third round, he even carded a double bogey, finishing with a—surprising by Spieth’s standard—7-over. Currently, he is tied with Max Greyserman at 77, and with only eighteen holes remaining, he does not have much chance of redemption. Add to this another shocking stat, and it seems like the 2015 FedEx Cup champion has an uphill battle waiting to unfold…

On January 31, Spieth Legion (which calls itself “The #1 #JordanSpieth Fan Community” on X) tweeted, “An incredible stat brought up by @ryan_7283. If Spieth doesn’t do it next week in Phoenix, it will be a calendar year without finishing within 12 shots of the winning score.”

Top Comment by Bill Blessman

Wrist injury has caused him to develop bad habits. With proper coaching he may come back. Will need that Magic...more

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But as we all know, Slow and Steady wins the race. Perhaps that’s a mantra Spieth will have to remember each and every single day. “I’m trying to give myself some time. But at some point I’m going to get anxious out here if I’m not able to do consistent things,” he said to NYT. On the other hand, though, that same Spieth told Golf.com, “Results are results. Results come, one drops or you’re in contention enough, it goes your way.”

“But just being consistent, just stepping up and knowing I’m going to start the ball right there, that may lead to 69 that day, it may lead to 65, maybe 74, but I know that the next day I know what to improve on. Just a lot less guessing, more confidence in what I’m doing, and sticking to it is really what I’m looking forward to.”

Seems like the veteran realizes that patience is the key right now. Spieth’s longtime coach, Cameron McCormick, also offered some insight on the same as he said, “This is a different Jordan. You’ve got a Jordan Spieth that is living and demonstrating patience and living and demonstrating acceptance. He’s been very easy to work with — more easy than most other times in my history coaching with him and more accepting of this being a process.”

While Jordan Spieth was once optimistic about being able to make a comeback soon, his current performance does say otherwise. And the stat has left his fans all the more worried.

The golf community is shocked with Jordan Spieth’s stats

Jordan Spieth’s 2024 season didn’t go as planned, thanks to the nagging wrist injury that held him back on the course. The three-time major champ struggled to find his usual rhythm, and it was a particularly painful episode at Royal Troon that pushed him to take action. While Spieth has been focusing on recovery ever since his surgery in August 2024, he’s also been pretty open about the tough road back, including the pain he felt even with simple swings.

One of his fans defended him, saying that the wrist injury might have caused all the problems. They wrote, “That wrist is like a silent killer for a golfer. You think about it on every swing. Even when you’re not thinking about it, our brilliant brains protect us from pain, so the swing naturally changes: less lag, less interaction with the turf, you want your wrist a bit more bowed at impact, so you see a lot more right to left spin… hence Spieth missing left more often… and now hitting a draw more often.”

That was not all with people defending his performance on the course. One of them even mentioned, “Which is around when all the wrist stuff started after Sentry last year .   I am giving him a few months to get settled back in with that wrist as a wrist injury can’t be easy to come back from”.

However, not everyone was on the same side. One of them even said, “Cuz his iron game is trash.” Well, why would they not? He has dropped down to the 138th position in Strokes Gained: Approach to Green, with a stat of -0.204. Additionally, his game has not improved much at Pebble Beach either. 

Last year, Jordan Spieth did card all rounds of under-par. But he could not fair well enough to even make it to the top 25. The American professional finished with a T39 at the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. And this year, instead of making a redemption, he just got all the worse. Taking to this, one of them wrote, “Well this week has been disappointing by all measures.  Looks the same as last year.  Guess some patience needed.”

Jordan Spieth, who has a record of winning thirteen times on the PGA Tour, which includes three major golf tournaments: the Masters Tournament (2015), the U.S. Open (2015), and the Open Championship (2017), has currently dropped down to 77 on the OWGR list. As sad as it might sound, his being a part of the Signature events too is probably because of his gameplay back in his late 20s. Taking to this, one of them asked, “Is he even in the field. His world ranking is near 80”.

Well, the community has spoken—some good, some bad. What’s your take on it? Let us know in the comments below!