For the first time since March of 2021, Jordan Spieth has dropped out of the top 50 in the world.
The former world No. 1 and three-time major champion slipped to No. 51 in the latest tabulations of the Official World Golf Ranking, which were released on Monday.
Spieth, who spent 26 weeks at No. 1 in 2015 and 2016, was ranked in the top 10 in the world as recently as the week of April 16, 2023, after losing a playoff to Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage. But he has been in a tailspin ever since. After recording a third at The Sentry, the season opener, and a T-6 at the WM Phoenix Open, Spieth notched only one more top 10 all season and finished 62nd in the FedEx Cup. His last of 13 career Tour titles dates back to the 2022 RBC Heritage.
Spieth underwent successful surgery on his left wrist in August and will be sidelined until at least the start of the year, he said.
Spieth originally complained of a wrist injury the week before the 2023 PGA Championship, withdrawing from his hometown event, the Byron Nelson, which at the time was sponsored by AT&T.
“I kept trying not to make excuses for myself because it didn’t hurt when I was swinging,” Spieth said in August. “But it doesn’t seem coincidental based on the amount of time, and really the results being the exact same every single week. So I’m very hopeful.”
He began the year at No. 15 in the world but missed the cut at the Masters and Players Championship and his best result in the other three majors was a T-25 at the British Open.
During an interview with Golfweek in September, Spieth said he was taking advantage of the down time to regroup, mentally and physically.
“I think it’s a great break for me. I’m gonna look at it that way, but at the same time, it’s like, in the middle of this, what can I be doing to stay sharp? What adjustments can I make? I’ll be kind of wet concrete coming back so I’ll be able to kind of mold things where I’ve been maybe struggling in some of my mechanics, I can get those mechanically sound,” he said. “I’ve got enough time to wait until they’re very sound before I need to come back and be 100 percent. I’ve got to get the mobility back first and I need to get full mobility back before you then have to get the strength back. So stuff with the golf swing as I start back will start to feel very different week in and week out as I start to get the strength back in my left hand.
“So I imagine it’s going to be longer than a process to be like game-ready than when I can actually just swing a club, but I’m being very patient with it and very happy about the process.”
