J.J. Spaun withdrew Thursday from the Tour Championship in Atlanta with a right shoulder injury.
The 2025 U.S. Open winner was 4 over through five holes in his first round — going bogey-double bogey-bogey on holes 2-4, when the decision was made to leave the course. His departure left Min Woo Lee to play solo, which he used as an advantage to card an 8-under 62.
Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis spoke with Spaun in the clubhouse at East Lake and reported that Spaun woke up with severe pain in his shoulder on Tuesday morning, believing it stemmed from a poor sleeping position.
Spaun told Lewis that he got treatment for the injury Tuesday and hoped it would work itself out, but admitted to still feeling discomfort in his backswing this morning.
“It’s happened to me before, but it’s never persisted this long,” Spaun told reporters before leaving the course. “Me and my physiologist, we kind of worked through it and hit some balls Tuesday. It flared up pretty bad. I couldn’t play any holes after hitting balls for about 45 minutes.”
“Wednesday I figured it would be a lot better. It kind of was. I couldn’t move my neck or my head either direction,” he added. “Took a few sand wedge swings yesterday, and it’s just basically like a knife in my right shoulder blade. ... I tried to push through it. Today it felt a lot better, like mobility-wise, but I think with the torque and the amount of force in a golf swing, it just doesn’t feel very comfortable.”
Lewis reported that Spaun is returning to his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he will get further treatment for the injury.
It’s a tough break for Spaun who is fighting to become a Presidents Cup captain’s pick for the U.S. team at Medinah next month. Captain Brandt Snedeker will announce his six picks on Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET on Golf Channel.
“I just didn’t want to cause any further damage before I assess this correctly and see what’s going on in there,” Spaun said. “I just think I’ve got to take a few days off golf, maybe a week or so, and I should be fine. I didn’t want to make a naive decision by pushing through to finish 30th. I wasn’t playing my best, and it’s just hard to complete a backswing right now.”
The world No. 16-ranked player finished 22nd at the BMW Championship last week, where he celebrated his 36th birthday and shared the lead after the opening round.
“It sucks to end the year this way, but that’s life,” he said. “I turned 36 last week, and I think maybe that’s just kind of what happens when you’re in your mid-30s now.”
Spaun got his third career win at the Valero Texas Open in April and has three other top-10 finishes on the season, his most recent a T-7 in the Travelers at the end of June.
Spaun will finish the season 30th in the FedExCup standings and earn $355,000 from the Tour Championship.
“I wish the tournament started another day later or week, then I’d be final probably,” he said. “Just kind of err on the side of caution, especially with some big events coming up. Hopefully they’ll kind of consider me a little bit even though this week was a huge letdown.”
