Jordan Spieth’s freak injury is the weirdest story you’ll hear this week…

By his own high standards, this has been a disappointing year for Jordan Spieth.

The former world No.1 has failed to add to his 16 PGA Tour wins, contended in only one major (a T4 at The Masters), and contributed only one point from four matches at the Ryder Cup.

That’s to say nothing of the fact he finished a distant 27th in the FedEx Cup, had almost as many missed cuts (six) as top-10 finishes (7), and slid a couple of spots on the world rankings.

There is, though, a perfectly good reason for that.

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Spieth has struggled for most of the year with a wrist injury that forced him to withdraw from his hometown event, the AT&T Byron Nelson, in May.

He returned to action at the US PGA Championship the following week – where he finished in a tie for 29th – but admitted that it took until The Open in July for him to feel 100% again.

That’s how things stayed until the week after the Ryder Cup, where he re-aggravated the problem in freakish circumstances.

Speaking to reporters ahead of this week’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas – his first appearance since the USA’s defeat in Rome – Spieth explained what happened.

“I was reaching for a toaster to make my son breakfast,” said the 30-year-old. “The toast wasn’t even in the toaster.”

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He was subsequently diagnosed with was diagnosed with ulnar nerve damage, which can impair movement or sensation in the wrist or hand.

“It’s not anything to mess with, so I’ve been trying to take it very, very carefully,” he added.

Fortunately, though, he reckons he’s close to full fitness once again.

“It’s not really a rest or ice thing,” he said. “It’s not an inflammation thing, which is how I treated it in May thinking it was an acute injury to the wrist.

“It’s more use it, but don’t overuse it. Listen to it. But I’ve been at full practice for weeks now and here or there when I feel like it gets close to being overdone, gym, practice, combination of a day, then I stay off it.

“I have no reservations on my abilities to just do what I need to do going forward given the progress that’s been made over the last month and a half.”

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor