Jordan Spieth Gripped by Fear Despite Successful TPC Scottsdale Outing: ‘Expectations Are Low’

Jordan Spieth’s return to competitive golf this year was supposed to be the fresh start he needed. After taking time off following wrist surgery, fans were eager to see if he could shake off the rust and finally break his nearly three-year winless streak. He was too. You see, his last win was the 2022 RBC Heritage.

I had some really bad habits for a long time. Whether it was something that would have happened anyway or whether anything in my wrist was causing me to not be able to get into certain positions, I don’t have that issue now. Having to take three months off swinging forces you to come back and be wet concrete,” Spieth said before teeing off at Pebble Beach. He tied for 69th, not exactly the shiny comeback but just as things started looking promising, he dropped a bombshell.

His wrist still isn’t at 100%. And worse? He jammed it again at the Pebble Beach. “I was in a bunker on Spyglass No. 1, my 10th hole, and I had to flick one and it jammed it pretty good. It locked up on me for a little while,” Spieth said after finishing R1 at TPC Scottsdale. Yeah, it’s not exactly the kind of update fans wanted to hear, especially considering he’d already spent significant time away from the course since August 2024.

Clearly now, at the WM Phoenix Open, Spieth must be hoping to build some momentum but he is aware of the reality. On Thursday, he carded 3 under. It came at the courtesy of 4 birdies, and 1 bogey. However, his wrist remains the biggest concern. “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. I expect myself to make good swings, but as far as results, it’s hard to think that I should be expecting a lot after six months,” Spieth explained in a post-round presser.

That said, Spieth knows what he’s capable of. He is not here to simply show up, he aims to snag that elusive win. It’s high time a player like him returns to the winner’s circle and shows the world all the hype of Spieth Saturdays, that were once a thing. “I know where I was today, and I know that I can do better than I did today. If I can try to post a few scores at or better than today, then you never know, I start getting back in the mix and it becomes pretty fun and hopefully more consistent,” he added.

The golfer has also been toying with the idea of a new putter. In particular, he is looking for something that would align better, and be a little bit more smoother. He said he has a “few options” with him – so the putter, heel-toe weighted blade made by T.P. Mills, which we saw on Thursday may not be his last change of the week. He took 32 putts in the first round, holing 93 feet worth of putts, much of which came on a 56-footer on the sixth hole.