(Reuters) – Jordan Spieth heads into this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas ready to test a wrist injury that limited him at the PGA Championship and fully aware that aggravating it could derail his preparation for the year’s final two majors.
Despite an injury that denied him time to sufficiently prepare, Spieth opted to play last week’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill in Rochester, New York where he was seeking the final leg of the career Grand Slam of golf’s four majors.
Now, with the PGA Tour in his home state of Texas, Spieth is again ready put his wrist to the test at Colonial Country Club where he has played well throughout his career and has eight top-10s in 11 starts.
“At this point, I don’t feel like I’m rushing things,” said Spieth, who won the event in 2016 and finished in a share of seventh place last year.
“It’s kind of a week-to-week thing because it’s something that can get worse, and if it does, I need to cut it off immediately.”
World number 11 Spieth said he suffered the injury when he pushed himself off the ground while playing with his son after returning home from the May 4-7 Wells Fargo Championship.
“Something just popped and jammed, and then all of a sudden, I couldn’t move it and got on it right away,” said Spieth.
“Ended up with an MRI the next morning and went through a few specialists and tried to figure out the right plan for it. I was very shocked I was able to — I was pretty surprised I was able to play last week.”
At the PGA Championship, Spieth struggled just to make the cut en route to a five-over-par finish that left him 14 shots behind winner Brooks Koepka.
But Spieth, who was diagnosed with a moderate grade tendon sheath tear, said his wrist felt better each day.
Spieth also said he hopes to play a regular schedule through to the June 15-18 U.S. Open and then plans to take a break ahead of the July 13-16 Scottish Open which serves as a tune-up for the British Open.
“Again, I just keep on staying in touch with specialists,” said Spieth. “They would err on the side of caution, and if they’re pretty comfortable and I feel good about it, then I say why not play?”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
