This hidden benefit of the new PGA Tour schedule gives injured players a chance

A popular assessment of PGA Tour players at the end of August — and at the end of their 2024 season — was that they were tired. Scottie Scheffler was drained. Xander Schauffele was talking about his “patience bucket” running on empty. It’s a long season if you’re a good player.

But beyond exhaustion, at least a few star players have also been injured. Both Jordan Spieth and Ludvig Aberg opted for surgery in recent weeks to correct problems that had plagued them and their games. Coincidence, or trend? Hard to say. But with a new and well defined off seasonwhere there’s no pressure to compete for players in the top 100 of the FedEx Cup, elite pros can now hold off on dealing with nagging injuries until the season is over. Like a quarterback or point guard can only do AFTER their team leaves the playoffs.

Spieth has been direct about his nagging wrist injury throughout 2024 (and even in previous years). As he described it, his wrist was repeatedly dislocated, which led to nerve damage in his wrist and arm. Not great for a guy who twists those wrists and arms hundreds of times a day.

“Anything that affected the field was not a good situation for me this year.” Spieth said during the Wyndham Championshippromising that he needed surgery as soon as possible. The issue flared up in the RBC legacy in April and lasted. But it wasn’t so serious that he couldn’t scratch it and still make cuts. Spieth was 42nd in the FedEx Cup at that point, but failed to finish in the top 20 the rest of the season, finishing 67th but still making the playoffs. All is not lost.

Aberg’s situation was a little different. He withdrew from the Wells Fargo Championship in May, citing a “knee issue” and opting for some time off before the PGA Championship. He missed the cut at the PGA while wearing a knee brace, and took off two weeks later for extra rest. The rest of his summer looked remarkably similar to Aberg, apart from a missed cut at the Open Championship, but he insisted his knee problems were in the past. All good.

Except, obviously, everything was NO good! Whenever he read the shot, Aberg avoided bending his left knee too much. Surprisingly, when Aberg’s season ended, Todd Lewis reported for the Golf Channel that Aberg was scheduled to have surgery this week to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Like Spieth, it was a problem, but not serious enough to end a season. So Aberg went ahead, played well and won $795,000 in the FedEx Cup and another $3.4 million in the Comcast Business Top 10. Then he did what other professional athletes do: He scheduled a corrective procedure after those piles of money were secured.

maybe trend It’s not the right word to describe the actions of just two players, but Spieth and Aberg definitely have a common approach. Get through this year and then deal with it in September. In years past, the tournament schedule — and its season-long points race for status — would begin again this week, just days after the tournament championship ends. It felt like saying to the bronze medalist in the 400m: “Congratulations on that medal! But remember, we have the decathlon coming up. You may skip one or two events, but everyone will have a head start on you.”

Where can you fit meniscus surgery and a 6-week recovery time into that schedule? Players were forced to sacrifice the fall season’s scoring and start with a deficit, or play through the pain without addressing it, or — perhaps worse — shut down midseason and explore the path of a medical exemption.

In Aberg’s case, he shouldn’t rush back into contention. He is expected to rest September and may be able to fit in one or two fall events in October. But maybe the recovery takes a little longer. Maybe he wants to take an extended, unplanned trip to Sweden. Maybe we don’t see Aberg until Hawaii. In a world where the best players are gassed and maybe even injured at the end of August, we should be fine with them taking a break until January.

In Spieth’s case, there is even more time. With a more serious recovery path, he can work his way back LATER January – he has not qualified for Sentry in Kapalua – without missing much. Using his typical schedule as a template, Spieth may not play until the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, more than four months from now. That may seem like forever on the golf calendar we’re used to, but it could also be why Spieth said he needs surgery “ASAP.” Four months may be exactly the time he needs to heal.