Bounce off spectator’s elbow doesn’t help Jordan Spieth make Byron Nelson cut

Jordan Spieth couldn’t take advantage of a fortuante ricochet off a spectator’s elbow and missed the cut at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

Spieth followed his opening 68 with a 1-under 70 on Friday at TPC Craig Ranch. At 4 under par, he was two shots removed from making the weekend.

Spieth appeared, at times, bothered by his problematic left wrist in Round 2 and was fighting the cut tide after a bogey at the first. He managed to get within one of the eventual cut line, thanks to a birdie at the 14^th. But at the par-4 16^th, Spieth sent his tee shot sailing right. It struck a fan in his right elbow and caromed into the fairway.

Jordan Spieth's drive ricochets off a spectator and into the fairway on 16. 🫣

📺: Golf Channel & @peacock | @CJByronNelson pic.twitter.com/2aGz0CxfoP

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 3, 2024

The fan was in good spirits after the incident, walking away with a signed ball and a giant welt. Spieth, meanwhile, was in good position but missed the green left with his approach shot and couldn’t get up and down. He then failed to birdie the par-3 17^th.

Knowing he needed eagle on the par-5 18^th, Spieth’s third shot from 77 yards landed near the hole but spun back 44 feet, from where he two-putted.

The missed cut was Spieth’s fourth in his last six starts. He was also DQ’d from the Genesis Invitational in February after signing an incorrect scorecard. Spieth, a Dallas native, didn’t compete in his “hometown” event last year because of a left wrist injury. He said two weeks ago at the RBC Heritage that his extensor carpi ulnaris tendon in his left wrist popped out during a shot in Round 1 at Harbour Town and that he has had to pop it back in.

Spieth added that his wrist needs time to heal but he’s scheduled to compete in next week’s Wells Fargo Championship, the Tour’s sixth signature event of the season. After that is the Charles Schwab Challenge in Ft. Worth, Texas, which he won in 2016 (he has until the Friday before tournament week to commit). The PGA Championship – the missing piece of a career Grand Slam for Spieth – is two weeks thereafter, May 16-19 at Valhalla Golf Club.