Spieth has mindset to handle the heat of grand-slam quest
Having allayed fears over wrist injury, American gets Tom Watson’s backing in attempt to join exclusive club
Fears that Jordan Spieth’s wrist injury would force the American to pull out of this week’s USPGA Championship and so see his mission to complete the career grand slam postponed for at least another year were eased when he underwent a full range session yesterday.
Spieth, 29, set the alarm bells ringing when he withdrew from last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson in his home city of Dallas. It came on the back of his missed cut at the Wells Fargo Championship, after which he revealed the pain he was operating under.
“Over the weekend, I had severe pain in my left wrist and had doctors confirm an injury that requires rest and limited movement,” Spieth wrote in a statement released on his social media pages last week. “I’m focused on healing as quickly as possible and will have to evaluate my recovery week to week.”
Spieth arrived in upstate New York on Monday night and took to the course just after midday. Despite his arm being heavily taped, he proceeded to go through his bag in a 70-minute practice with no sign of discomfort or restriction.
He then accompanied world No 1 Jon Rahm to the 10th tee, before heading back to the putting green. Spieth played only one hole, but that was more to do with the wind than protecting his wrist.
Spieth will likely at least walk the course today to familiarise himself with the restored layout. He missed the cut at Oak Hill in his USPGA debut in 2013, but since then the Donal Ross creation has undergone an overhaul.
Should he tee off alongside Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Norwegian Viktor Hovland, then this will be the Texan’s seventh attempt at joining Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen in the pantheon.
He had finished second in this major in 2015 – the year he won the Masters and US Open – but since prevailing at the 2017 Open, the nearest he has come to lifting the huge Wanamaker Trophy is third in 2019.
However, there were some woeful runs of form in that period and after coming fourth behind Rahm at last month’s Masters, there was a play-off defeat by England’s Matt Fitzpatrick at the Heritage and many experts had him marked down as one of the favourites.
But this setback has caused him to drift in the betting markets. As the cliche “beware the injured golfer” intimates, there is precedent, even in the majors. At the 2008 Open, Padraig Harrington suffered a wrist injury, but without the benefit of a practice round at Royal Birkdale, battled to his second Claret Jug in succession.
The pressure would be palpable. Spieth would not just be trying to join golf ’s greats, but to leave behind some of golf ’s greats as well. And one of the greatest living members of the latter group believes that his young countryman possesses the key ingredient to
succeed where he, himself, failed. Tom Watson never did complete the set. He won eight majors, including five Opens, but the USPGA eluded him. So, he is stuck on three. No shame there.
Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Sam Snead are just three of the legends who also fell one short.
And, as much as Woods and co command the headlines, as the world tunes in to see whether Spieth can win his first major in six years, Watson feels his young friend has the wherewithal to withstand the heat.
“The media will build it up and keep yelling at him ‘grand slam’, ‘grand slam’ and he’ll answer the questions, but all he’ll be thinking about is that tournament, the next tee shot, the next iron shot, the next putt,” Watson told “Because that is one of his main strengths. He has the ability to put everything behind him and ignore what is too far in front of him.” Watson got to know the Texan when captaining America’s ill-fated attempt to win back the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in 2014. It was Spieth’s first time and Watson was instantly drawn. “Jordan’s a nice person, a good person, who always does and says the right thing and, although you can see that winning mentality in his eyes, he wins in the correct manner,” Watson said. “Golf is lucky to have him.
“I had some good shots at the [US]PGA, but it didn’t quite happen. I’m not hung up on it and never was. And I’m sure Jordan isn’t fixated, either. He has time on his side. Gee, he has all the time in the world.”