DEAN & DELUCA Invitational
Friday, May 26, 2017
Jordan Spieth
Quick Quotes
Q. ...all of a sudden things fell into place.
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I just made a mistake on 11, and then after that, 12 through 15 are really difficult holes with the wind that we had.
You know, 11, I made a mistake trying to force it onto the green. My original plan was just to blow it left of the green and chip it up close. I just kind of hit it a little fat and a little off the toe, and it shot out in the water. I turned a birdie hole into a bogey hole early, and to go into the tough holes.
So tremendous bounce back today. That was big for me after missing the last two putts. I feel like -- again, I keep reiterating -- I feel like I'm playing well. I'm just either not catching the breaks or my short game is just a little off.
Felt like I really got back into a rhythm with a putter today. That was the best putting I've had in a long time. Really, really important bounce back there.
Walked a putt in on 14 for bogey. Stepped in and walked it in. Just said, Enough of this. That was definitely the key. I hit great putts from there.
Q. What is in your game that suits this golf course?
JORDAN SPIETH: I think we map it out really well. We know the spots to miss is and still have an opportunity on the greens in regulation.
I mean, greens in regulation, you're not going to see tremendous fairway hit stats, fairway percentage stats here just because it's just too difficult to hit off of 'em.
But if you can put it in spots where you're still hitting greens in regulation, par is probably your worst, score, that's where you move up the leaderboard.
Did a great job on the front nine. I hit eight on nine greens on the front, which allowed me to shoot 4-under. On that back, getting started, I just didn't give myself the opportunities for greens in regulation, and from there it was tough to get going.
Really nice fight back hitting I want to say it was like ten of our last twelve greens or something. Needed it big time. We worked from missing the cut into contention, and so I feel good.
Q. Really distinctively different halves of the same novel. Talk to us about the two nines.
JORDAN SPIETH: Well, I just made a mistake on 11. You know, 12 through 15 are the meat of this golf course. Obviously 3 through 5 and 12 through 15 are the holes you need to get through. I turned 11 trying to do a little too much and get an eagle putt into a bogey. Just off miss-execution, but also the wrong shot.
That was a downer. All of a sudden I'm at 3-over and it's looking eerily similar to the last two Fridays. I knew that and that was in my head.
I walked in a bogey putt to had on 14. I brought Michael in. Michael and I have started to kind of go away from a lot of talking and away from a lot of dissecting the situation and to just more free flowing, the way I kind of grew up playing.
Just him getting the numbers and the wind, and then I'll try play the shots from there. I brought him in on that putt. (Indiscernible) this wind, and I hit the putt and I stepped and almost caught it (indiscernible). And just a five, six-footer for bogey there turned the entire round around.
I then stepped up with confidence and made a long one on the next hole. Hit great putts every single hole from there on in, including some nice par saves that led us back into contention.
Q. Was it a connecting of the dots in some way?
JORDAN SPIETH: Well, yeah, I mean, I played 5-under on my last, what is that, my last 13, 14 holes. That's the round of the day. That's what we needed to see. I've been striking the ball well.
I hit the fairways, and if I missed the fairways they were good drives that were just off that gave me an opportunity to be on the green. From there, if I'm hitting greens in regulation, that's how you get that putter going. When you're trying to grind for par saves, it's too difficult to gain momentum off that.
So seeing a couple birdie putts go in and walk a couple in from mid-range was kind of the way that we expect to be. Hopefully that can continue.
Q. Quick thoughts on your round today.
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, was first five holes that looked eerily similar to the last two Fridays that I've played. I stuck in there. I made a great bogey save that was the key to my round on the 14th hole.
Brought Michael in, which is -- Michael, we've been working to kind of stay out of each other's business. I trust what he says on the yardage and the wind, and from there I pick the shot and go.
We are trying to go back to kind of an I play my game and stop over-dissecting kind of each situation. Talk less and just hit the shots.
I brought him in on that one, and he did a phenomenal job of committing me to that line that I like and telling me to walk it in. Hit this one with confidence and walk it in. I stepped and walked it in, and I think it was kind of shocking, because it was it bogey putt to go to 3-over and no one really walks those in.
It was exactly what I needed to get the confidence that I've been working towards back in that putter. From there I hit great putts the rest of the round. Right on my lines. Felt like I had good rhythm in the stokes. Speed was nice.
We were able to turned round completely around and not only avoid missing the cut, but work ourselves into hopefully contention here out of a really tough wave. I think I was maybe third in our wave.
So I can take confidence out of that, given I still had nine over-par holes in the two days, and bogey avoidance is one of my biggest strengths.
It's tough in these conditions, but we just keep on doing our thing. Today was a bit better. I avoided any bogeys after 14 and played really solid golf.
Q. I know you would probably rather have a perfect round from start to finish, but when you start the way you did the last two days and bounce back and finishing strong, do you almost get more momentum from that because you're able to fix it?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, when your back is against the wall and you feel the nerves kick up because you know you got to do something or you're not going to be able to play both weekends in town. That would've been really, really tough for me to swallow if I missed this cut.
It was in my head. I normally never talk about the cut line, and it was in my head given I don't miss two cuts in a row. So back is against the wall to be able to come back. Definitely a lot of confidence. Doesn't mean I don't want to start the rounds out a bit better obviously.
Because I know right now the confidence I just gained in my short game towards the back half of this round, if we start strong we can keep it going out here. I've played 1 through 5 4-under. I don't think I've ever done that. I don't think I've ever been 2-under on those holes.
I stepped up and hit shots when you needed to hit them and trusted them and picked the right lines through the greens. I felt really good about the way we played the last 14 holes. About as solid as the entire year.
Q. You're a really analytical guy. How tough is it to use that strength but not over-dissect, as you put it?
JORDAN SPIETH: Well, it just comes into the communication with Michael and dialing back. I trust what he says and he trusts what I'm going to do with it from there. Instead of this shot is playing in between 150, 153, having to call every shot was kind was what it felt like. It's difficult to call every shot. It's difficult to call a shot in general.
So we've kind of gone to giving a little more room for error by me just, Okay, there is the number, there is the cover, there is the back of the green. Hit the shot I know how to hit based on the wind that I'm feeling at the time.
Q. (No microphone.)
JORDAN SPIETH: No, I've been hitting the ball great. I felt like I struck the ball better yesterday than I did today. Probably doesn't show up that way, but I was flagging it yesterday and just made six birdies. Just made too many mistakes.
But so I'll get to the range. This wind has got me a little up in the air, with is normal. Just got to get to the range and kind of nail it back to where it was yesterday.
Wasn't technical. We've just been working on freeing ourselves up and being a little more laissez faire with it.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Rev #1 by #179 at 2017-05-26 18:33:00 GMT
