Golf broadcaster Rex Hoggard has suggested that Jordan Spieth may seriously want to consider taking six months off from the game given what he told him about the wrist injury currently plaguing him.
It is fair to say that Jordan Spieth does not go into the Wells Fargo Championship this week in the best form, with the American missing four of his last six cuts on the PGA Tour.
That included a missed weekend at The Masters where the 2015 champion was +9 through the opening two rounds at Augusta National.
It is nine years since Spieth’s best finish at the PGA Championship, with this year’s event at Valhalla just around the corner, and it is nearly seven years since Spieth won any major.
Unfortunately, it appears that Spieth is fighting to stay fit right now, and that is holding him back.
Jordan Spieth dealing with ‘terrifying’ injury
Speaking on Golf Today, Rex Hoggard suggested that his wrist injury is really costing him, and something is going to have to give in the coming months if he continues to miss cuts.
“It’s clearly a problem, it’s clearly something which is preventing him from playing the golf that he wants to play, the golf that we all know that he’s capable of playing,” he said.
“Now I spoke with Jordan about this last week, and he said he’s not going to make it worse, he’s not going to make it better by playing. The way he explained it to me is that he didn’t feel like it was a surgical procedure that was going to make it work.
“But when he talks about the idea that he doesn’t know when it’s going to pop out, and we’re talking about the ligament popping out of the sheath in his wrist, that seems to be terrifying. And I don’t know how you can possibly play professional golf with that looming over you, and I think that’s what we’re seeing out of Jordan Spieth right now.
“So if we don’t see a turnaround, whether it’s this week or whether it’s Valhalla for the PGA Championship, or at least the next few weeks, I think he has to make a decision about how he’s going to treat this particular injury.
“Maybe taking six months off at this point is the best option.”
Something has to give
Spieth may well have to make a very tough call on his career in the near future. Clearly, he will not want to keep missing cuts in what should probably be the prime years of his career.
It is remarkable to think Spieth has not added to his three major titles since 2017. At the time, it appeared that the 30-year-old was destined to enjoy a period of dominance, with many discussing whether he could actually rival Tiger Woods for major titles.
If Spieth has been told that surgery is too much of a risk or not worthwhile, then it is hardly surprising that he is persevering for the time-being.
But it must be agonising waiting for the world-class game to come back to him right now.
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