CROMWELL, Conn. — Jordan Spieth was forced to withdraw from the Travelers Championship after 13 holes Thursday when tightness in his shoulder blade reached a point he couldn’t swing without pain.
Spieth said the injury appeared out of nowhere, perhaps from sleeping in a bad position. He noticed it on the range, had his physical trainer work on him before teeing off and it never got any better.
He was 5 over for his round, with no birdies, when he informed playing partner Luke Clanton he could not continue and was taken off in a cart.
Spieth had never previously withdrawn from a PGA Tour event in 297 career starts.
“I’ve never withdrawn from an event ever anywhere at any level, so I didn’t really know what to do. It just became too much,” Spieth said. “I didn’t see it turning around until probably Saturday. These things kind of last an extra day, and no matter what I was going to do, it was just going to be … I don’t know, it’s unfortunate.
“I’ve been doing everything right, and I think it was just very random.”
The timing was a blow to Spieth, who got into his first signature event this year without needing to rely on a sponsor exemption. His wife is due to give birth to their third child in a few weeks, and there were no plans to add a tournament before the Open Championship.
Spieth has moved back into the top 50 in the world ranking and the top 40 of the FedEx Cup despite a late start to the season because of surgery on his left wrist last August.
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He said he felt a tug on both sides of his neck and upper back as he worked through his bag on the range. He stopped the session to get work on it, but as the round began it wasn’t getting any better. The next goal was to finish the round because there is no 36-hole cut.
“It’s a weird situation with an elevated event and no cut and important points,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Well, what’s the downside if I can finish, even if it’s ugly?’ And then I hit my tee shot on 13, and it legitimately really hurt.”
Spieth tied for 23rd in the U.S. Open and was on the fringe of contention at the Memorial before he tied for seventh.
