Jordan Spieth admits lengthy absence was due to testing positive for coronavirus

Jordan Spieth is back in action this week for the first time since the Masters, and he revealed his extended absence was due to him testing positive for Covid-19. Watch the AT&T Byron Nelson from Thursday on Sky Sports Golf.

By Keith Jackson

Tuesday 11 May 2021 19:25, UK

Jordan Spieth revealed he was forced to miss the Valspar Championship after testing positive for Covid-19 last month.

Spieth has been absent from the PGA Tour since finishing tied for third at The Masters, but he admitted he had not intended to take a month off and was scheduled to play at the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor.

But he began to feel coronavirus symptoms the week before heading to Florida and, after returning three positive tests, he self-isolated away from his family at his Texas home.

Spieth insisted he is now fit and healthy, although he is wary of his game being rusty as he returns to action in this week's AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch.

"I took a week off (after the Masters), and then I ended up actually getting Covid, so then I was out for a little while longer," he explained. "So I'm just kind of starting to get it back the last week or so and kind of get back on track.

"I've only played a couple rounds and so I'm looking to kind of maybe knock a little rust off that I didn't think would necessarily be here. But, yeah, I feel good. I feel strong. I feel ready to go for a good stretch of golf coming up.

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"I'm not really sure when I got it, to be honest, because nobody I was around ever got it. It was the Tuesday of New Orleans when I started my symptoms and it was bad for a day and a half, and then it was just kind of annoying for the next five days, kind of lost energy, and sinus stuff.

"And then after that I started to get full strength back and I would say the last week to week and a half now I've been acting as if it never happened. I've just gone about my days and doing, feeling full energy and being able to hit kind of full workouts and practice sessions and all that kind of stuff.

"So it's just kind of set me back a little. It was actually, I guess, if there's ever a good time during the season, it kind of worked out okay. But I was planning on continuing to play. I wasn't planning on taking a month off in the spring. So at this point it's get back to playing golf and try and get in the same rhythm I was in and just kind of be patient with it."

Spieth was "really bummed" to miss the Valspar Championship, a tournament he won in 2015 shortly before storming to victory at the Masters, and he resisted the temptation to play at Quail Hollow last week as he prepares himself for four consecutive tournaments.

"I've had a lot of success at the Valspar," he added. "I like the golf course there, so I was really bummed. It was tough watching it knowing that I had been playing well and I would go to a course that I like a lot, but that's unfortunately part of the world we live in right now.

"So I don't think I would have been 100 per cent last week, so decided to wait until this week. I feel good. I've been able to do everything I can normally do the last week or so."