Jordan Spieth spent a lot of time after the 2023 Ryder Cup recuperating his ulnar nerve injury, which affected his forearm, hand, and fingers.
He did not swing a club for a while throughout the fall, but he circled the first weekend of December as a target to return to tournament play.
His target: the Hero World Challenge hosted by Tiger Woods in the Bahamas.
Spieth fared decently well there, finishing in sixth in the 20-man field. But being in contention in the Bahamas has allowed him to parlay that success to this week’s event in Maui.
“Tiger’s event was big for me, just to get out there and into contention,” Spieth said after his third round at The Sentry Saturday.
“Coming here and picking up where I left off there is really nice.”
Spieth carded a bogey-free 6-under 67 on Saturday to soar up the leaderboard. He now sits two strokes behind Chris Kirk, at 19-under, and only Akshay Bhatia sits between Spieth and the lead.
Consequently, the former world number one knows he must go low to win for the first time since the 2022 RBC Heritage.
“I just assume I have to shoot 6-under [or more],” Spieth said. “It’s just crazy how the scoring is.”
The Plantation Course at Kapalua yields plenty of birdies. It also provides great entertainment for fans to kick off each calendar year. Spieth knows that, too.
“Honestly, it’s just more fun. You have to play more shots,” he said.
“The holes show a little teeth. You can run out 400 yards through fairways, so you still hit the driver, but you have to hit a different shot [with it] to make it go shorter. It’s very odd; it’s an odd scenario, one that you only experience here.”
The elevation changes on this seaside Maui course are unbelievable. From the highest point on the 17th green to the lowest point of the property on the 8th green, a nearly 500-foot change in elevation exists.
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The 18th hole at The Plantation Course at Kapalua.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
That allows the players to hit nearly 500-yard drives thanks to the plentiful downhill par-4s. But that does not necessarily mean the course determines who is playing the best.
“Some guys probably are on top of their game, and they just don’t quite make enough birdies or get the right breaks here,” Spieth added.
“Some guys are scoring well but have much work to do. Sometimes, Kapalua can be that way, at least for a few rounds, but typically, it starts to show itself throughout an entire tournament. I’m sure some guys shot 4-under and felt like they played great and guys who shot 6-under and maybe felt a little off, like myself. That’s not always fair, but that’s the game.”
Golf is indeed a funny game, but Spieth is glad to have contended in the Bahamas before this week’s event in Maui. Before the Hero World Challenge, Spieth had just one top-10 finish since the U.S. Open in June—a tie for 6th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Nevertheless, his late-season downturn is in the rearview mirror.
Now, Spieth is delighted that his ulnar nerve injury is not bothering him anymore—so much so that he has not even thought about it all week.
However, he continues to do physical therapy to ensure that he is stronger than ever in 2024. Three-to-four times a week in fact.
But that is all a part of his strategic recuperation process. That, coupled with his recent experience in the Bahamas, could help him get to the top in Maui.
That would be quite the way to start the new year for the three-time major champion.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
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