A disappointed Jordan Spieth was forced to withdraw from the Travelers Championship during the first round due to a back injury.
Spieth, who says he was feeling good heading into the tournament, had a problem with his upper back during his warm-up for the opening round at TPC River Highlands.
He still teed off in the final Signature Event of the PGA Tour season, the first one he managed to qualify for without needing a sponsor's invite, and managed to get through 12 holes before the pain became too much.
The Travelers is an event Spieth is a known big fan of, so he was bitterly disappointed to have to withdraw from the event - with this being his first ever WD in 297 PGA Tour 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"I've never withdrawn from an event ever anywhere at any level, so I didn't really know what to do.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.
"I may have just slept wrong and then something came along. I don't know what caused it. I've done the same routine. I didn't change anything up. I took Monday pretty easy. There was no excuses. It was very random. Unfortunate, given the timing."
With there being no cut in this Signature Event and Spieth desperate for points, he thought about just battling through even at five over - until he struck his 13th tee shot.
"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."
During warmup, my right scap tightened and despite trying to push through, pain spread to my neck and upper back. By 13 tee, I realized I had to stop. I’ve never had to WD before, and hate that it happened at @TravelersChamp - a tournament I love. Thanks everyone for the support!June 20, 2025
It's hopefully just a minor issue for Spieth, but a bad blow just as he was climbing back up the rankings after recovering from wrist surgery he had last year.
His wife's also due to give birth to their third child imminently, so Spieth was due a break in his schedule anyway - all of which means he'll miss out on crucial points towards not only the FedEx Cup but the Ryder Cup qualification list.
"It's disappointing. 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. Yeah, it's a bummer. It's a bummer at this event, obviously."
Spieth's heavy recent schedule wasn't to blame, he says, as he "was not overdone" and "didn't feel stress coming into this" and if anything was relaxed at one of his favorite events.
But it's no doubt a speed bump in his season, as he'd climbed back into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking and top 40 on the FedEx Cup - and sits 22nd in the list for Keegan Bradley's Team USA.
And he had been showing signs of his old self this season, briefly contending before finishing seventh at The Memorial and a T23 at the US Open - but he'll now have to sit out a while and hope for a flying finish to the campaign.
