Jordan Spieth looking to defend the RBC Heritage title amidst the mental fatigue due to a busy PGA Tour schedule
Since the introduction of designated events by the PGA Tour this year, all the top players are required to participate in every elevated event and can skip just one of the 17 designated events.
The scheduling of the PGA Tour is such that players are on the golf course every week or two with little to no break in between.
After finishing T4 at The Masters last week, Jordan Spieth is at Harbour Town Golf Links this week looking to defend the RBC Heritage, the last event he won. He hasn't skipped any designated events yet, which means he has consistently been on Tour.
In addition to competing against the best golfers, Spieth will have to face another challenge when he tees off on Thursday, April 13. He recently reflected on the issue of playing too much golf, which was causing 'mental fatigue' and that he would need to look after his schedule moving forward.
"I think I played way too much golf into this," said Spieth during the final round interview of the 2023 Masters. "I came in mentally fatigued and then you overworked this week every year and um, I played way too much golf in the last, I mean this is eight out of ten weeks, so I need to change my schedule up going forward to be a little sharper this week. I think that has a lot to do with it."
It's not just Spieth who has been affected by the busy PGA Tour schedule. A number of golfers have been affected by the injuries. Golf injury tracking handle, GOLF INJURY REPORT, tweeted a list of injured players who are either out or doubtful for this week's RBC Heritage.
- Jordan Spieth - Mental Health
- Matt Fitzpatrick - Bulging Disc
- Sungjae Im - Back
- Tyrrell Hatton - Hand
- Maverick McNealy - Clavicle
- Lanto Griffin - Back/Ribs
- Mark Hubbard - Toe
- Patrick Rodgers - Undisclosed
- Matt NeSmith - Back
- C.T. Pan - Wrist
- Callum Tarren - Undisclosed
- James Hahn - Neck
- Chez Reavie - Undisclosed
- Andrew Landry - Shoulder
- Davis Love III - Wrist
- Adam Schenk - Wrist
- Chad Ramey - Back
- Davis Thompson - Undisclosed
- Brian Gay - Undisclosed
- Jim Herman - Undisclosed
- Greyson Sigg - Undisclosed
- Stephan Jaeger - Undisclosed
- J.B Holmes - Back
- Zac Blair - Undisclosed
- Byeong Hun An - Wrist
PGA Tour Injury Report | 2023 RBC Heritage
Sponsored By @NUCLRGOLF
(Full Breakdowns) -> Patreon.com/GolfInjuryRepo…
Jordan Spieth *P* (Mental Health)
Matt Fitzpatrick *Q* (Bulging Disc)
Sungjae Im *P* (Back)
Tyrrell Hatton *P* (Hand)
Maverick McNealy *Q* (Clavicle)
Lanto Griffin… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/czBp18eFEO
List of PGA Tour designated events
Here's the list of PGA Tour elevated designated events:
Date Tournaments
Jan. 5-8: Sentry Tournament of Champions
Feb. 9-12: Waste Management Phoenix Open
Feb. 16-19: The Genesis Invitational
March 2-5: Arnold Palmer Invitational
March 9-12: The Players Championship
March 23-26: WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play
April 6-9: Masters Tournament
April 13-16: RBC Heritage
May 4-7: Wells Fargo Championship
May 19-22: PGA Championship
June 1-4: the Memorial Tournament
June 15-18: U.S. Open
June 22-25: Travelers Championship
July 20-23: The Open Championship
Aug. 10-13: FedEx St. Jude Championship
Aug. 17-20: BMW Championship
Aug. 24-27: Tour Championship
While seven of the events have already ended, there are still more than half of them left. It will be interesting to see how 'smartly' players plan their schedule moving forward.