Jordan Spieth to play Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
2 Min Read
ST. LOUIS, MO - AUGUST 06: Jordan Spieth of the United States plays a shot during a practice round prior to the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club on August 6, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
After missing the TOUR Championship for the first time in his career, Jordan Spieth’s schedule is undergoing a big change.
Spieth has committed to the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, which will be played Nov. 1-4 at Las Vegas’ TPC Summerlin. It will be the first time in Spieth’s career that he will play a domestic tournament during the fall portion of the PGA TOUR schedule.
“I’m really excited to be playing in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open,” he said. “The event has been on my radar for a while, as the course has a great reputation on TOUR and I absolutely love the affiliation with the hospital. It’s going to be a really fun week in a great city.”
Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler and defending champion Patrick Cantlay also are scheduled to play the Shriners.
Spieth finished 31st in last season’s FedExCup, missing the TOUR Championship for the first time in his career. He was ranked 27th in the FedExCup at the start of the BMW Championship but finished T55 in the 69-man field to fall out of the top 30. It ended his streak of five consecutive TOUR Championship appearances to start his career.
The 2017-18 season also was the second winless season of Spieth’s career. He also went winless in 2014, but responded by winning the following year’s FedExCup.
This will be Spieth’s first fall start in three years. His only previous fall starts came at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in China. He played the event from 2013-15, including a T7 finish in his final appearance.
The fall has been an important time of year for Spieth, though. In 2014, he followed his winless PGA TOUR campaign with victories at the Australian Open and Hero World Challenge that set the stage for his five-win season in 2015. He also won the 2016 Australian Open.
Spieth has not announced any additional upcoming starts. In each of the previous two seasons, he has started the new year with the Sentry Tournament of Champions and Sony Open in Hawaii. Spieth, the 2016 Sentry champion, would need to win in the fall to qualify for Kapalua, though.
When Spieth was last ineligible for the Sentry, he made his first start of the calendar year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He has never played the CareerBuilder Challenge and has not played the Farmers Insurance Open since 2015. The Farmers was the site of his pro debut in 2013.