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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 18, 2015

Jordan Spieth

ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND

JORDAN SPIETH: Just stayed around the locker room and upstairs, kind of laid around, slept a little bit, and then after the second hour, I went back to the house and laid around there and just took another nap and caught up on some sleep. I didn't get a whole lot last night being off the course so late, having to go get dinner and then showering, get to bed, wake up at 4:45. I then came back here for lunch and stuck around since. Just a lot of waiting, but it happens. I'm pleased that we did wait because that would have been even harder. It was definitely challenging on that 16th and 17th hole, but 18 with this wind the way it was and a little heavier wind, I was able to smooth a drive out there and hit it on the middle of the green. All in all, I thought at the beginning of the day yesterday when we were about to start our round, even par -- my goal was to shoot 1-under. I thought that would be a good score, and I played alongside a 3-under and a 5-under, so I kind of got showed up today, but you know, just -- it was an interesting round that took a lot of time, but it's nice to look back on Saturday evening and instead of being five shots back with one to go, I've still got two full rounds, so anything can happen here.

Q. I heard you say this morning that we shouldn't have started. Do you still feel that way?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I think -- I don't believe that had the R&A known what was going to happen, they certainly wouldn't have started us. The only thing they were able to go off of was what the officials themselves saw when they were out there before we even got out to the golf course. They obviously were out there and balls were not moving, they were staying in position, so that means that it's playable. From what I saw video wise and what I saw first hand with Dustin when we got out there, it wasn't the case. I wish that -- after you see a shot like Dustin's, which was the first shot that we saw, and after what I heard happened on the 11th green and what happened with Louis on 13, you know, I think it immediately should have been called there. But you know, we just have to stick it out, and it's unfortunate because the position I was in there with that long eagle putt, I guess I should have putted in the dark last night. It would have been a better position to be in even though I couldn't have really read it. So yeah, I think I lost a stroke there. But I also gained a couple on guys that were ahead of me in that delay or in going out early, so I can't complain too much about it. Obviously frustration was taking over, and I wasn't happy with the three-putt, especially when I just saw that the ball was not standing still and mine was wiggling back and forth as I was getting over the ball on a six-footer on a flat surface. Yeah, I think it was just a tricky situation, and it was unfortunate for the R&A because I believe that there was nothing they could do differently.

Q. (Inaudible.)
JORDAN SPIETH: I was just happy that they called it and that we were able to wait it out and go out with some better weather. Mentally when you're on the practice green and the practice green is slower than the course and the ball is still moving there, it's going to mess with you a bit. This morning warming up on the practice green, it felt a lot like 11 green yesterday during the round, and all three of us in our group three-putted, and from inside of four feet, all three of us on the second putts. It was just going to be a day like that where you needed to somehow find a way to get the ball close to the hole, close enough for par to be able to move on to the next. That was my mental attitude going into it. I told myself on that first hole, I was trying to get a two-putt, and if you don't, then don't get too frustrated. Obviously the most frustrating thing for me on a golf course is a three-putt, and I had five of them today. By that point, that was my fourth of the round, and even though there was a night in between, I still knew it was my fourth of the round with a bunch of holes to go in those conditions, and that's extremely frustrating for me.

Q. Can you talk about just the position you find yourself in? You're midway through the tournament. Your overall thoughts?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I believe I'm still in contention. I still believe I can win this tournament. I need a really solid round tomorrow, though, because Dustin is not letting up. He's the only one I can speak of, he and Hideki because I saw it first hand. Dustin is going to shoot a good round tomorrow with less wind, and I'm going to need to shoot a great round to really give myself a chance. To fall from two back to five back isn't exactly what I wanted on a Friday, but it could have been worse, could have been better. It is what it is, and if I can shoot something like 10-under in the last two rounds, I think I'll have a chance to win.

Q. When we're watching you go for that Grand Slam, and you know about that, that's not a surprise to you, do you feel any pressure or do you welcome the pressure?
JORDAN SPIETH: No, it's just when we're out on the course inside the ropes, it's just another event, and working as hard as I can to get into contention and beat the best players in the world. I understand where we're at off the course, but it doesn't do any good thinking about that. It does better for me focusing on the task at hand. That's what we did in the first two majors.

Q. You looked pretty angry when you missed that putt this morning. Were you angry at yourself, the wind, the R&A or all of the above?
JORDAN SPIETH: I just was mad that I left two putts short. The greens were slower, it was into the wind. I can be aggressive on it, as aggressive as I want and I have no more than a foot. I got so focused on the line and how to play the wind on the line, that putt would normally be a left-center putt, I played it outside the right side of the hole on a six footer on a flat surface, and it was going in the centre, so I read it correctly, I just completely forgot about being aggressive, and that's what you have to be out here, and that was also my fourth three-putt in a row where the first putt was left well short, so that was what was really frustrating was that I just wasn't hitting them hard enough and not adjusting to the speeds and playing the wind. It was myself.
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