"I realized I had to stop" - Jordan Spieth explains reason for his first-ever withdrawal on PGA Tour

Jordan Spieth withdrew from the 2025 Travelers Championship during the first round of the tournament on Thursday, June 19. The American golfer started the first round and played 12 holes before withdrawing from the competition, citing a neck/upper back injury. It was the first withdrawal of his career.

Spieth later explained the reason for the unexpected withdrawal from the signature PGA Tour event via a social media post. On his X (formerly Twitter) account, the former Masters winner revealed that "during warmup," his "right scap tightened," and the pain increased as the game progressed. Finally, on the 13th hole, he was forced to withdraw from the game.

"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!" Jordan Spieth wrote on X.

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Injuries took a heavy toll on Jordan Spieth last season as well. He missed the second half of the 2024 season due to a wrist injury.

However, he never withdrew from a competition. This was his first withdrawal in 297 starts on the PGA Tour.

Jordan Spieth started at the 2025 Travelers Championship on the first tee. He made a bogey on the first hole and then added two more bogeys on the sixth and seventh holes.

On the back nine, he carded two more bogeys before calling it quits. Austin Eckroat took the lead after the first round in a two-way tie with Scottie Scheffler at 8-under. Wyndham Clark, Rory McIlroy, and Keegan Bradley all tied for third at 6-under.

Jordan Spieth expresses frustration after an early exit from the Travelers Championship

The former Masters winner expressed his frustration after withdrawing from the opening round of the 2025 Travelers Championship in the post-round press conference on Thursday. After struggling with an injury in 2024, he found some relief in 2025 and has recorded four top-10 finishes so far.

As per CBS Sports, he had +6000 odds to win this week's signature event, but unfortunately, he was forced to withdraw from the tournament.

"It's incredibly frustrating because this was 10 out of 12 for me," Spieth said (via ASAP Sports). "I was looking at this being the strongest one, and I was very confident about that. Everything I had done in practice and the pro-am showed me it's going to be a really good event. It's just a very weird circumstance. It's disappointing."

In his last outing at the US Open, Jordan Spieth was tied for 23rd, and before that, he played at the Memorial Tournament and secured a T7 position. He has played in 15 tournaments this season on the PGA Tour and made the cut in 13 of them.

About the author

Ankita Yadav is an NFL and Golf writer at Sportskeeda with over three years of experience in journalism (and counting). With a Master’s degree in Chemistry, she somehow swapped test tubes for touchdowns and tee shots—and hasn’t looked back since.

She’s previously covered the world of entertainment with OtakuKart and TV Season & Spoilers and worked as an editor at ComingSoon. Her stories have racked up nearly nine million reads, and she’s had the chance to interview top athletes like professional golfer Yuvraj Singh Sandhu.

Based in Bhopal, Ankita proudly supports the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, and is a fan of Nelly Korda. When she’s not writing, she’s probably at a live music show, watching a movie or out on a long drive.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua