Jordan Spieth is off to a fast start at the WM Phoenix Open after carding a three-under 68 at TPC Scottsdale.
Fresh off posting a 67 at Pebble Beach, Spieth made four birdies and dropped just one shot to sit just four shots back of leader Wyndham Clark.
The WM Phoenix Open is Spieth’s second PGA Tour start since undergoing wrist surgery in August 2024. Although he says he’s now pain-free, the American’s wrist was tested to the limit at Pebble Beach last week.
Jordan Spieth delivers injury update
Speaking during his post-round press conference on Thursday, Spieth revealed that he wasn’t fully confident during last week’s Signature Event.
“It felt good. I felt like Sunday last week. I kind of didn’t trust what I was doing. 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. So I was back to the status quo Sunday on all the stuff that I had been doing, and it paid off there,” Spieth said.
“Then I put in a few good days of work here and thought I played better than I scored. I hit some beautiful putts that burned edges, high, low, left and right. I made a long one. But to play a round in a few under out here when the conditions were — the pins were really tucked today, so it was a little harder than a normal first round in the morning here, and to feel like I left a few out there is a really good feeling. It makes me feel like I’m close to back to where I want to be.”
How Jordan Spieth ‘hurt’ his wrist at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
The American also revealed that his wrist locked up after he played a bunker shot on the 10th hole at Spyglass Hill.
“I was in a bunker on Spyglass No. 1, my 10th hole, and I had to flick one and it jammed it pretty good, and it locked up on me for a little while,” Spieth added.
“Yeah, when it’s not moving well, for me, I’ve got a lot of lean and a lot of left hand involved, and if it’s not leaning, it’s going to go pretty far off line. Luckily, this is a really good test these few weeks, and my expectations are low.”
Early signs are positive for Jordan Spieth
Considering Spieth is still working his way back to top form, the early signs are positive – and the first-round stats from Scottsdale paint an optimistic picture.
Spieth ranked 16th in strokes gain approach and picked up nearly two shots on the field with his irons in hand.
What’s more, with a new putter in the bag, Spieth was 35th in the field for strokes gained putting. Another positive for Spieth is that there’s still room for improvement.
His driving accuracy was down, and he lost strokes around the greens, which is typically a massive strength of the three-time major winner.
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