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June 27, 2014
BETHESDA, MARYLAND
Q. 2-over for the tournament, 1-under today, knowing that you can go low, you always seem like you're so calm and collected.
JORDAN SPIETH: I just know that I shot 6-under on this course before. I did it last year, and if I can just get the ball in play, I feel really, really comfortable around the greens and I can be aggressive once I find that something, whatever it is. So I believe that I can shoot a good round. I knew today was going to be a little better round than yesterday and I'm working in the right direction. It's not a peak, valley, peak. Right now it's on the rise and I'm working on some stuff that I really need to work on for the British Open. It has not come together in the long clubs yet to a playable level and it's amazing that we are able to even make the cut, really, for the places I put it off the tee.
Q. Like you said, you were spraying it a bit today but you seemed to recover pretty well. Is it just something in your swing or just a comfort thing?
JORDAN SPIETH: The scrambling around, we played to smart places where I could get up-and-down from, and honestly, I just feel comfortable with that wedge in my hand around the greens. This is some gnarly rough and tough pin positions, but to be honest, the reason we are still in is because my putter and making almost everything I look at inside 15 feet, which is awesome, which gives me a little confidence when we are all over the place that I can chip it up there close and make the putt. That's going to have to continue and hopefully hit a few more for birdie.
Q. Where would this rankings in terms of fighting?
JORDAN SPIETH: Oh, No. 1. I can't think of a round that I've ever fought and still shot under par and played that poorly tee-to-green. But, I mean, that's part of golf. Everybody does it. Like Michael said, he said: "It's awesome hanging in there, and I don't know anybody in the field that would have been able to shoot under par from the places you hit it." That's what he said.
Q. Does that give you any extra confidence knowing that if you do put it in the fairway --
JORDAN SPIETH: No doubt.
Q. -- knowing how you're hitting your approach shots, that you can go low tomorrow and Sunday?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I mean, I found out that I can play without a driver and 3-wood and shoot under par out here, so that gives me a lot of confidence going forward, because it's not going to be any worse. It's only going to get better. We'll figure whatever it is out, and it could be just a little ball position, a little trigger, whatever, something to find a go-to shot. I'm not out of this tournament by any means. I'm eight back with two rounds to go on a very difficult course. That's something we can make up quickly.
Q. What did you expect out of Tiger? Did you have any expectations? Everybody was curious.
JORDAN SPIETH: I knew that he really hasn't even been hitting balls very long. So it would be a weird feeling -- if it were anybody else, I would say that I would expect kind of a struggle. But you just never know with Tiger, and you know, it showed the brilliance that he has and that he's capable of doing. He just got a couple rounds under his belt. So he's going to be a severe threat at the British, probably a favorite, and after playing these couple rounds, I think he'll take something from it. So it won't be a surprise when he starts the first couple rounds there. Swing looks good. He's not over-swinging. He's in rhythm. When he was putting, he wasn't aggressive enough through but we were all leaving it short. We were all leaving it short. I think we all thought the greens were going to be faster. The greens he has at his house are faster. Other than that, he's not that far off from being right back to where he was.
Q. What do you credit being able to stay so calm --
JORDAN SPIETH: I'm not so calm.
Q. You hide it well.
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I hide it well. I don't know --
Q. You carry yourself like you've been out here 15 years.
JORDAN SPIETH: Well, my birth certificate's wrong. I'm balding and it's obvious I'm really older than I really am. I don't know, we've been through struggle rounds before and gotten through them. We've seen both sides of it and know what we need to do, what kind of voices we need that Michael kind of gives to me to keep me rolling and stay confident in my game. You know, there are definitely moments where I just stand over the ball on the tee and I just had no idea where the heck it was going to go, and that's not normal for me. But Michael kept me calm, cool and collected and we got it around.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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