PEBBLE BEACH — Jordan Spieth, the inaugural recipient of The Legacy, a new award presented in conjunction with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, probably deserves another award for how to accept an award.

A three-time major champion and the 2017 winner of the annual PGA Tour event at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spieth was honored Tuesday night at The Lodge at Pebble Beach with an award presented by Golf Digest and the Monterey Peninsula Foundation. He was recognized for his embrace of the pro-am spirit and for his exemplary record of charitable work and giving back that aligns with the event and the host organization, MPF, which donates around $18 million annually to area charities.

“It’s a tremendous honor, being the first one, but I feel like this one really belongs to Annie and Laura, who are doing all of the groundwork and making things happen,” said Spieth, referring to his wife and to Laura Moses, representative for the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation, which was launched in 2014. “I want this to be for them.”

Before officially being presented the award by Steve John, CEO of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Spieth sat down for a question-and-answer session with CBS Sports golf host and local resident Jim Nantz. During the conversation, Spieth expressed similar sentiments while also giving credit to his parents for an upbringing that gave him proper direction. “Annie runs the show … Annie and Laura, and I’m just the pretty face,” he said, drawing laughs from the crowd that included fellow player Rickie Fowler.

In recognition of the honor, Spieth’s second at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Golf Digest donated $50,000 to the Monterey Peninsula Foundation. Spieth previously won the Arnie Award in 2020 for his commitment to philanthropy, an award also presented by Golf Digest that now is celebrated at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club in Orlando.

Spieth, 31, is making his 2025 PGA Tour debut this week at the same event where he cashed his first check as a professional in 2013, finishing T-22 and earning $65,000. He has not competed since August at the FedEx St. Jude Championship after undergoing surgery on his left wrist to repair a ruptured tendon sheath. The Dallas native had been dealing with the issue since May 2023, and he struggled throughout the 2024 season, posting a career-low three top-10 finishes and missing eight cuts in 22 starts.

He said Tuesday night that an incident at Royal Troon during last year’s Open Championship convinced him that something had to be done.

“It started to dislocate more and more [throughout the year], and I was on the 17th hole at Troon on Saturday, and it was very cold and rainy and I was holding my umbrella, and a wind gust caught it and my tendon kind of dislocated. The sheath tore off, so the tendon dislocated. It had never happened on the golf course and when it happens, I can’t grip the club. I couldn’t turn my hand this way [palm facing down], and I’m walking back to 18 tee, and I’m like, ‘Oh no, I’ve got one hole left. I just got to get the ball in the hole.’ And I’m trying to pop it, pop it, and I got it back in before I hit my tee shot, and that’s when I thought maybe that’s the last straw. Maybe we should probably do something about this. I don’t really feel like playing like this anymore.”

One of golf’s most popular players, Spieth is in this week’s 80-man field via a sponsor’s exemption, not surprising considering he is a past champion and a brand ambassador for AT&T. Just like 2013, he embarks on a new chapter in his career. He owns 13 PGA Tour titles and needs a win in the PGA Championship to complete the career grand slam.

Nantz, whose first golf assignment for CBS Sports was the 1986 Pebble Beach Pro-Am—the same year AT&T began its sponsorship of the event founded by Bing Crosby—asked how long Spieth thought it might take him to find his groove again.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a hole, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a month,” he replied. “I wouldn’t be surprised just at this point … I came back and I saw my instructor [Cameron McCormick] like four weeks after, and I obviously was in a full cast. I couldn’t do anything. But we just talked. We had a couple of lessons where we just talked. We said what’s the plan? And I think as long as I stick to kind of a 10-year outlook, I got 10 years where I can still play at my prime. I feel that’s maybe a stretch with the way the game’s going but something like that.

“I’m just having a very patient outlook, not trying to force it back right away, but not being surprised if I feel really good. I mean, structurally I was able to get things back. I like to look at it [his swing] as wet concrete. So the way we kept talking about it was like we have this opportunity now where it’s wet concrete, I’ve taken enough time away from swinging that I can come back and kind of mold what I want to do, get out of my bad habits and then let that settle in. I feel good about the work that’s been done. There’s no reason things shouldn’t fall back into place.”

Speaking of places, for Spieth, there is no place like Pebble Beach. Being able to make his return at one of his favorite venues is meaningful to him.

“This is a place that I will always come back to,” he said. “I’ve seen this tournament the old way, I’ve seen it during COVID, I’ve seen it the new way as a signature event. I’ve seen everything in between. This is a very special tournament to be associated with.

“I don’t think they can give me any more awards,” he added jokingly. “I’m just always grateful to be here.”

This year more than ever.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com