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WGC HSBC CHAMPIONS

November 6, 2015

Jordan Spieth

Shanghai, China

Q. Some thoughts?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, a bit expected in the wind. The move I'm trying to do is a challenging move, especially to trust when it's breezy. When I get into the breeze, I hit some shots that I was very shocked with today.

But, I mean, I lost a lot of focus there, too. I felt like I wasn't zeroing in. I felt like I was very lazy in my routine, very lazy in picking targets. And it bit me with three unforced errors in a row on the back nine there, but I am pleased with the way that we did rebound there and get two more coming in. Because it looked like I could have just bogeyed in.

The wedge shot on 14 was a big shot, just to get it back and I was able to get some kind of momentum I guess coming in.

Q. Do you think the laziness is the coincidence of the break you've had and coming back to play?
JORDAN SPIETH: Not really sure, yeah. I was frustrated the first couple holes to start the day when yesterday I seemed to be really even keel just in my routine. Today I was a little time-crunched. I got caught on the range hitting balls. I didn't get up and hit enough with the long clubs and then I just kind of rushed into it, and I got to the first tee somewhat upset.

I don't really know why. It just was like that. And after No. 2, I told Michael: We just need to, if we can, just step back and I'll just try and take a deep breath and have a better attitude right now. I mean, this isn't going to do me any good. Obviously worked right there.

Was really cruising and had a -- on 8 and 9, had good looks at birdie that very well could have gone in and missed them, which is fine. Then I just had a lapse 6 concentration for about 30 minutes there.

Q. A word on last night, Caddie of the Year. How pleased are you for him?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, very. I kind of figured it was coming. I trust him as the best in the world and he trusts me. That's what made our partnership so great so far over the last few years. It certainly worked this past year and you know, I think it was well deserving and it was cool to see him on stage there.

Q. What is it that you saw? What makes him so good at his job in your eyes?
JORDAN SPIETH: Well, we understand each other well. We know -- and it's really him understanding me; knowing when is the right time to step in and say something; knowing when the right time is to back off; knowing how to judge the wind; knowing what shots I'm thinking about playing; and therefore, trying to gauge a yardage off of that.

So yeah, we've got a lot of rounds under our belt now and we get better and better each week I think.

Q. What would you feel about him writing a book about you?
JORDAN SPIETH: I think -- what did Adam say, he said, "I would just rather not give him a reason to." So I think I'll try and do the same. If he did, I hope it would be good. But we'd have to -- honestly, we have to have a lot of success for that to even be a possibility.

Q. The story itself is impressive. He didn't come from a complete golfing background, another profession and moved into it --
JORDAN SPIETH: It was a bit obvious when we started that he didn't come from a golfing background. It was a bit of an adjustment through the Web.com and early in the PGA TOUR season, we were just riding momentum and at the right time.

Certainly he's one of the -- one of the best things he's done is he's found a group of guys that he really gets along with that are great people but also work really, really hard at what they do; guys like Teddy Scott, there's tons of them. And he's found these great caddies and he really enjoys what he does. He really enjoys working hard at what he does. Getting there early, finding out where the swales are, finding out the knicks and knacks of the golf courses.

Q. Was there a click-point at which you kind of said, yeah, this is the guy for me long term?
JORDAN SPIETH: I just figured from the get-go, yeah. I wasn't planning on bringing him out of teaching just to give him four months and send him back to teaching. I planned on us having success. Obviously things have progressed quicker than we could have imagined.

But yeah, it was maybe the middle of 2014 I really saw as he started to know golf courses, see him a couple times and get there and really work hard. I mean, there's been some talking back and forth. There's been some stuff that he's wanted from me and we've had long conversations about what I want from him and what I want to change and adapt and be a better fit for me.

We had a big talk between Miami and Tampa this last year and I wasn't very happy with the way things were going when I was frustrated or whatever it was, I can't remember exactly. We ended up winning the next week. We make quick adjustments, both of us, and I think that's important.

Q. Can you highlight an instance maybe from the U.S. Open or the Masters where he made a fundamental difference?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I mean, we pay our caddies what we believe the shots they save us, right. That's the reason that we employ them is because we believe that they save us shots every single round to eventually make a significant difference in the tournament.

Specifically in those events, I mean, it was a lot of -- at the Masters, a lot of it was on the practise range and the practise tee before going off. A lot of our conversation, and just, what are we doing that day. He's like: I've got all these pins nailed down, I know what we're going to do. You've got it ready for this. Let's hit some of these shots on the range to get prepared for -- whether it's a par 3 or whether it's a tricky hole. Augusta, it was like that.

Chambers Bay, he had as much course knowledge as anybody that was in the golf tournament. I think he was paramount in my bounce back off of 17 walking to 18 and settling down and really hitting that second shot on to the green. He had everything nailed down. He said, "This is the perfect club for you, whether you miss it, whether you hit it solid. No matter what it is, it's going it end up there on the green. We're going to get it in in four or less and move on and see how that works."

So both instances -- if I had time more to think, I could pinpoint more.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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