Jordan Spieth WDs from Travelers with neck/upper back injury
June 19 - Jordan Spieth headed for the clubhouse 12 holes into his opening round at the Travelers Championship on Thursday in Cromwell, Conn., withdrawing due to a neck/upper back injury.
Not only does it mark Spieth's first withdrawal after 297 starts on the PGA Tour, he said it was his first time withdrawing "anywhere, at any level."
Spieth told reporters that his neck began to lock up on him while he warmed up on the practice range Thursday. He wanted to gut through the situation, given the opportunity of a no-cut, $20 million signature event.
But after carding five bogeys and no birdies through 12, Spieth hit his drive at No. 13 and let go of his club while wincing in pain.
"I was just going to try to see if I could somehow get through at even," Spieth said. "It's a weird situation with an elevated event and no cut and important points and stuff. It's like, well, what's the downside if I can finish of just finishing even if it's ugly? And then I hit my tee shot on 13, and it legitimately really hurt.
"I was walking off that tee, and I'm like, 'If it's even harder to turn, then I'm not going to be able to make a backswing that's even useful,' and that's what happened on the bunker shot. I was like -- it's only going to get worse to finish the round, and it's not worth it. I thought that was the time."
Spieth said he doesn't know what caused the neck pain, and it could have been something as simple as sleeping wrong.
The three-time major champion, who's risen from the 80s to No. 44 in the Official World Golf Ranking this season, was confident his game was tracking toward another victory very soon.
"It's disappointing," he said. "We're having a baby here in a couple weeks, so I'll have some time off now, obviously, to get healthy, but hopefully after a few days I go through the right process to just get right back to where I was."
--Field Level Media
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Kyle Schwarber's late HR lifts Phillies over Marlins
June 20 - Kyle Schwarber belted a tiebreaking solo homer with two outs in the eighth and Cristopher Sanchez tossed eight strong innings, fueling the visiting Philadelphia Phillies to a 2-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on Thursday. Schwarber deposited a 1-0 sinker from Anthony Bender (1-5) over the wall in right-center field to stake Philadelphia to a 2-1 lead en route to a four-game series win. Schwarber's team-leading 23rd homer and second against Miami this season made a winner out of Sanchez (6-2), who allowed one run on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Seventy of Sanchez's 91 pitches went for strikes. Orion Kerkering relieved Sanchez and stranded a runner at third base in the ninth inning to secure his second save of the season. The red-hot Phillies recorded their seventh victory in their last eight games overall. Philadelphia's Alec Bohm had one of his team's six hits and scored on a fielder's choice by Bryson Stott in the seventh. Miami's Nick Fortes had a two-out RBI single in the fifth and Heriberto Hernandez had two of his team's six hits. Bender took the loss after allowing one run on one hit in two-thirds of an inning for the Marlins, who have dropped three of their last four. Dane Myers doubled off Sanchez to lead off the fifth and advanced to third base on a groundout by Jesus Sanchez. Myers came around to score on Fortes' tapper up the third-base line for an infield single. Edward Cabrera allowed a two-out single to Stott in the second and an infield single to Bohm in the seventh. Cabrera struck out Nick Castellanos before being relieved by Cade Gibson, who promptly loaded the bases and saw Bohm score on a sharp grounder to third base by Stott. That left Cabrera saddled with a no-decision despite allowing one run on two hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out five. --Field Level Media
Powys County Times
an hour ago
- Powys County Times
Rory McIlroy two shots off early clubhouse leader at Travelers Championship
Rory McIlroy made an impressive start to the Travelers Championship to sit two shots off the early clubhouse lead. The Masters champion had finished tied for 19th at the US Open over a punishing Oakmont course – but ended the weekend on a positive following a three-under-par final round, which was the joint best of the day. The Northern Irishman – who saw his driver ruled as 'non-conforming' ahead of last month's PGA Championship before then missing the cut at the Canadian Open – had been looking to build some momentum at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell as focus turns towards the Open at Royal Portrush. World number two McIlroy landed a birdie at the second and then sank two more ahead of the turn at the final PGA Tour Signature Event of 2025. After picking up another couple, a further birdie at the 17th – from the best part of 30 feet having hit a fine recovery shot out of the rough and over the water onto the green – saw him finish six under with 64 to sit in a tie for second, two shots behind early clubhouse leader Austin Eckroat. American Eckroat hit a fine eight-under round, which included an eagle at the par-three 15th and a sixth birdie at the 18th. McIlroy's playing partner Keegan Bradley is also at six-under, having dropped a shot at the 12th, alongside Wyndham Clark, the 2023 US Open champion. ANOTHER 🐦 at the 18th gets him in the clubhouse with a 62 (-8)!! He's our early round one leader. 🫡 — TravelersChamp (@TravelersChamp) June 19, 2025 'Overall it was a good start to the tournament, and I think when you're in a two-ball like that and we can sort of feed off one another a little bit too, that's nice as well,' McIlroy said after his opening round. 'I just want to see some good golf and see some better shots. I think if you concentrate on that and you are concentrating on your quality of golf and concentrating on just trying to play to the best of your ability, the result will take care of itself. 'There's no point in thinking about the result right now. I'm just trying to play as good as I can and make good swings, and if I do that enough, more than likely I'll find myself in a position to have a chance to win.' Out of position? Not for Rory McIlroy. He is 6-under @TravelersChamp 👀 📺 @PGATOURLIVE on ESPN+ — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 19, 2025 England's Tommy Fleetwood carded a first round of 66 to sit in a group tied for sixth. Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, runner-up at Oakmont on Sunday, finished one over following a double-bogey six on the 17th. World number one Scottie Scheffler, defending his Travelers Championship title, has been paired with newly-crowned US Open champion JJ Spaun in the later starters.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Harry Kane looking forward to facing Boca and their fearsome fans at Club World Cup
Harry Kane had an early taste of the great American outdoors ahead of next summer's World Cup as Bayern Munich's plane to Miami was delayed by Florida thunder storms ahead of Friday's game against Boca Juniors at the Hard Rock Stadium. On arrival Kane was still his familiar mild and temperate self in response to repeated questions, mainly from the Argentinian press, about the volatility of the reception he can expect from Boca's fans, who have been the most vivid spectacle of the Club World Cup so far. 'The Boca fans are obviously loud and they're passionate. A big part of their game is to have the fans behind them, to use them as the energy and to take them into tackles and to battle. 'Their fans are going to be passionate. They're going to be trying to push their team to win the game. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to the atmosphere. You know, sometimes it brings out the best in you as a player.' Kane is also prepared for the physical battle the Boca defenders will offer. Boca's tournament opener against Benfica was marked by concussive challenges, three red cards and a distinctive style of heavy-contact defending, 'It's going to be heated, it's going to be hot, it's going to be a physical game. And they have some quality players as well, so we need to be ready for that. We have to be ready for the battle tomorrow. 'They're a team who like to like to battle, like to make it difficult, like to counter press the opponent. We need to be ready for that. 'To be honest, I've not played against many South American teams in my career so far. So I think any game, any new team you play, is another experience. It's hard to really say how the game is going to go tomorrow, but like I said, I know they'll be very passionate, very hungry to get the result. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion 'There's a lot of top quality teams all around the world. It's not just Europe where football is played and you see that at national level as well. So it doesn't surprise me that some of the teams who are maybe not looked upon as some of the favourites, are doing well in this tournament. I don't think any anyone needs to be taken lightly.'
