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."