Jordan Spieth cutting back non-PGA Tour schedule

Jordan Spieth was a busy man in 2016. (Getty Images)

Jordan Spieth is trying to craft for himself an offseason that the PGA Tour, frankly, doesn’t offer.

The two-time major winner and two-time PGA Tour winner in 2016 will play in next week’s Australian Open in Sydney, and then he’ll play in Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in December. Then we’ll see him again in January.

“I just wanted an offseason. I needed some time off,” Spieth said to Golf.com.

The Aussie Open start is his first since finishing off the PGA Tour season at the Tour Championship in September and following it up at the Ryder Cup the following week.

Freeing up his calendar will come at the cost of some overseas events. After last year’s remarkable season that saw him win the Masters and U.S. Open, as well become the No. 1 player in the world, Spieth and his team capitalized. He played in Australia, made two stops in Asian events, including the WGC-HSBC Champions, and then played in Woods’ event. He went to Abu Dhabi to kick off the year and cash in on a large appearance fee. That pace wore down Spieth.

“I don’t need that,” Spieth said of his globe-trotting, non-PGA Tour travels. “I didn’t miss it at all.”

Spieth has spent some time at home and with his family in these weeks off, but he hasn’t gone without working on is game. His big focus? Shots from 60-75 yards.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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