Next week's Arnold Palmer Invitational features a well-known field of 72 players, but two of the most popular players in the two games aren't there.
Jordan Spieth and Ricky Fowler I did not receive an invitation to Bay Hill. Instead, Rafael Campos, Justin Rose, Min Woo Lee and Mackenzie Hughes received four sponsor exemptions.
Last year, Spieth played with a wrist injury and eventually required surgery in August. He did not participate in the tour championships and only posted the top 10 top 10.
Spieth then missed over five months and returned to the PGA tour at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM in early February. Spieth came in 69th there, but rebounded with a strong T-4 finish in the WM Phoenix Open. The three-time major winner missed a cut at the Genesis Invitational the following week, but bounced back at this week's Cognizant Classic and finished in the ninth tie.
Currently, Spieth is taking a week off and needs to see one of his favourite events from home.
“I don't think I'll be there next week,” Spieth said.
“It was a great, great place for me. I really want to get that start, but I had to play golf better injured than last year.”
Spieth says he feels good overall and then tees it with the players starting on March 13th. He will also play in the Valspar Championship in Tampa the following week.
“I feel like I'm heading in the right direction,” Spieth said.
“I feel like I played better [this week] More than I did in Phoenix. You might think Phoenix is a better fit for me. I've always done what I do there and I'm going to throw away Torrey Pines. It's not really a great judge on where I am.
“I really feel like I'm playing good golf with about 60% of the control tees that can come on a very challenging golf course and hit a nice shot and shoot per round. I'm one off from not having the chance to win on Friday, but it's a nine iron, and this is a 100th of a 100 different chunks.”
That one swing hinted at a par 3 on the 17th, where he found water from the tee. After re-enhancing from the drop zone, I putt three times from 20 feet and walked away with a triple bogey 6. He ended up finishing five strokes behind winner Joe Highsmith, but he would have been the majority of the conversation without that shot.
If he had finished higher, Spieth could have sneaked into Arnold Palmer's invitation field via Aon Swing 5. But if he won he would have received the invitation.
Anyway, Spieth's weekly vacation might be a blessing to disguise.
“[My wrist has] This week was pretty good. When I woke up it was almost the same every morning,” Spieth said.
“It's getting warmer so it might just get a little better, but it's very slow. By the time you start to hit, everything is fine. I'm not thinking at all on the golf course. I hope I start waking up and it starts to feel a little more normal. It's odd. It doesn't feel as unstable as it was last year. It's just a beat. It's just part of the scar tissue and inflammation.”
Jack Mirco is a golf staff writer who plays SB Nation. Follow him with x @jack_milko.
