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AT&T BYRON NELSON

May 21, 2016

Jordan Spieth

Irving, Texas

Q. Jordan, I thought you scored really well today. I counted 11 one putt greens for you.
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah. Just the same that is the first two days. I was just even further off today ball-striking wise and even better putting.

So, some of those up and downs on the front-9 were just kind of ridiculous. I mean they surprised me that I was able to get them up and down and those are the shots that I practice all the time, you know.

It's still -- I was in some really, really tough spots and was a very stressful round of golf to play because I just don't have confidence over the ball right now. It's very frustrating and actually putting incredible to still be in this tournament.

Q. Take me through 17. Just an electric moment. You got a standing ovation from everyone as you walked up to the green then to sink the putt, it just has to be unbelievable.
JORDAN SPIETH: That's a moment that I'll never forget. To be honest, even though it's Saturday, you know, may or may not have any impact on this tournament, that was the coolest roar I've ever heard. Fantastic walking up to that green.

Reminded me of Sunday when I was 16, hitting that tee shot is the same pin and, you know, obviously wanted to make that putt moreso than normal and when it had about two feet to go and it started to straighten out towards the cup, that was a pretty exciting moment.

There's nothing I could do after but just start smiling. That was really, really cool.

Q. See you on Sunday.
JORDAN SPIETH: Thank you.

Q. Do you think it's a positive when you were able to do what you did today?
JORDAN SPIETH: It's a positive that I'm scoring well. I got to find at least a ball flight that I can play to where I don't have to try and hit iron off 18 tee because I don't know where the woods are going to go.

I've never been one to lay up and for me to take iron on 18 means that there's an uncomfortable level there that, you know, I don't know what to say.

It's very difficult for me to stand up here and not be positive given I'm at 14-under and contending in this tournament but if you guys knew the kind of stress I felt over the golf ball right now trying to put my swing in the right position, it is a challenge, especially with the amount of difficult tee shots out here and trouble that guard at least one side of most of the fairways.

Q. How comparable to Augusta?
JORDAN SPIETH: No. Augusta I had more control at Augusta, yeah.

Q. Are you going to the driving range?
JORDAN SPIETH: Probably not. I hit a bunch of balls after yesterday and I'm pretty worn out. Might hit a few at home on the simulator to take a couple swings once I cool off. I think I'll probably just go for the rest route this time.

Q. Talk about this week feeling a little bit different. Going into Sunday being still in contention, does it feel the same now?
JORDAN SPIETH: You know, with the memories popping up, with the massive crowds popping up from whatever, six years ago now, five years, six years ago, you know, starting to feel a little like the Byron Nelson and feeling like I really want it, you know, feeling like -- you know, the extra adrenaline that maybe will come with that.

So, I imagine that will be there tomorrow but still, yeah, I still feel like it's normal tournament. Normally not in contention without having a go to ball flight and that's what I'm going to try to get tomorrow.

It's something that I can certainly get by the time I tee off tomorrow with the right feel on the range and at least seeing a couple of them on the golf course.

I was just trying all kinds of stuff today and you know -- if I had a 9-iron in my hands and it was on the green I was pleased. That's not -- I'm being brutally honest with you. I was legitimately pleased if like par 3, No. 13, I'm sitting there going to need to fit this in between the bunkers. I'm just going to go ahead and swing and downwind right to left, hopefully it's on line and when it was, I was very happy.

Q. Jordan, want to talk about young guns on the Tour, you and Brooks obviously fit in that mode. Is that more motivation that he's there at the top and you're chasing him down, another kind of young gun battle?
JORDAN SPIETH: It will be a lot of fun tomorrow. I played with Brooks this year, we played at Kapalua on Sunday. We played quite a few rounds together and he's obviously extremely talented and certainly capable of closing as well as he's shown at one of the wildest -- the wildest event of the year and this one is certainly up there with the closing stretch.

I'm sure it's got a lot of similarities for him when he's standing on these last few holes. So one thing I regret today is not taking driver out on 18 and trusting it. All in all, I felt like I got the most out of the round.

Q. Jordan, how would you describe Brooks' game?
JORDAN SPIETH: Powerful. Fearless and powerful. He hits putts aggressively. He puts a nice hard go at almost every swing and trust it's going where he's looking. That's challenging. That's a tough thing to do.

Q. There are a lot of ways to describe a Jordan Spieth round. I'll let you do it. So many twists and turns. How do you characterize it?
JORDAN SPIETH: Unfortunately not boring. I'm looking for boring golf tomorrow, back to those I hit 33 out of 36 greens the first two days. Something like that would be nice, especially the way I feel on the greens.

Q. You've talked about a two-way miss. You certainly had it going here. Lot of right and then the left on 14. What happened with the tee shot and how did you feel about --
JORDAN SPIETH: I was trying to play a little cut off the left side. I think I didn't quite get around my body enough and caused me to double cross it and hit it center toe. I hit a laser left.

You know, I probably should have hit iron off that tee but I've been hitting that 3-wood just fine and putting it in that fairway specifically so no problems up until then.

But, you know, if you go in the water left there, I mean there's just nothing you can do. You have to punch out then and you're really just looking to make a 6. I stole really a stroke out of that with a putt.

Q. All told, you worked with Cameron before this round. I'll assume you'll do that again before the next round.
What is your optimism that you're able to work some things out to be able to contend in the tournament and so forth?

JORDAN SPIETH: It's very useful to have Cam there. He's been telling me it's setting in the right place and swing has been good on the range and I'm just trying to get some kind of trigger that helps me set it and feel like I have the confidence as I get to the top of my backswing to be aggressive through the ball.

That's what I'm struggling with. It's useful to have him here. It's amazing to be contending at the Byron Nelson. This is a new feeling being this close to the lead here and it's felt like a normal week, felt like a week that you know -- it's felt kind of a combination of a normal tournament and one that maybe I want a little more, similar to a Major like type situation.

Go out tomorrow, try and keep things as simple as possible, not think too much about it. If I see a couple shots that are hitting my line that's all it takes to see a couple on the first few holes, we'll be in good shape.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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