	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE 145TH OPEN

July 16, 2016

Jordan Spieth

Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland

Q. Despite the hiccup on 6, you seemed very dialled in.
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, hitting the ball great, I'm just really struggling on the greens this week. That's kind of rare, but it's continued. I'm struggling reading them, and then because of that I have a tough time hitting a nice, solid putt on a line and being confident about it. I've missed four putts maybe inside of five feet today; that's not normal. A couple from two feet and they're just straight in the hole. So that's something that normally doesn't happen, but I'm just going to put it to this week and forget about it by the time I get to the PGA.

Q. Is there a (inaudible) problem tee to greens?
JORDAN SPIETH: No, no, I don't think there is.

Q. It's obviously a different pace.
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I've left everything short. My three-putts this week have been because the first putt is left short, and most all of my two-putts have been because I left it just short. Finding it very challenging, and I even am telling myself okay, no more putts short. There's no point. And I hit it a good foot, two feet faster than I want to and it's still short. But at least I don't have four feet. At least it's a foot short and I can tap it in. But I'm just very uncomfortable right now with the putter in my hands on these greens. So that's what it is.

I'm hitting the ball great. Very pleased with that. I hit it well enough to shoot 4 or 5-under easy today. On the front nine if I putt the way I should putt, my short game and wedge play has really let me down, too. But that really easily could have shot 7-under on that front nine. No. 2 is a basic little 80-yard shot that should be no problem to get up and down. I parred there and then the three-putt par.

So I'm hitting it great. I'm very pleased with the way I'm striking the ball, especially in these conditions. Just can't quite get it in the hole. I guess some weeks that happens.

Q. Do you feel you've got everything in preparation-wise?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah. Yeah, it's tough. You don't have the same short game or putting facilities that you're presented on the PGA Tour, but we're used to that over here. I felt like I got in my speed work. I felt like I got in everything I do on and around the greens to prepare myself. And I did a lot of my short game work on the golf course. I played the course four times maybe before we even played the tournament, and most of the time I spent chipping around the greens. Maybe I should have putted a bit more.

But yeah, I prepared. It's just another level when you get actually in tournament play having to trust hitting the ball where you think it's going to go five, six feet by and it's not. I just haven't adjusted. A bit unfortunate for that.

Q. With the few changes to the course this morning, what time were you told, and what did you think of the decision to (inaudible) the greens and move a few tees around?
JORDAN SPIETH: I'm not sure. It will be hard to tell right now. I don't know what the afternoon weather is going to be like. I was disappointed that the tees were up on 16 and 17. I don't think that did anything to it. Not disappointed, I think it was unnecessary. But the one on 8 is pretty cool with the wind that we had to move it up under, so it's under 100 yards now adjusted, and you're trying to figure out what club to hit and how to hit it, where to hit it, almost where to lay up. For how strong the wind was when we were on the tee, I thought that was a great setup.

Other than that, everything else is pretty similar and they're pins that we were expecting to have. I think they may have taken a couple of tomorrow's and thrown them in today on holes where they thought it might be too windy on other hole locations.

Q. (Inaudible).
JORDAN SPIETH: I birdied the third, so I've got no problems with it.

Q. Jordan, what is your view of where your game is and where your mind is, more broadly?
JORDAN SPIETH: Oh, of the year?

Q. In terms of how you've felt this year, how it's been.
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, it's been tough given I think it's been a solid year and I think had last year not happened I'd be having a lot of positive questions. Instead most of the questions I get are comparing to last year and, therefore, negative because it's not to the same standard. So that's almost tough to then convince myself that you're having a good year when nobody else really -- even if you guys think it is, the questions I get make me feel like it's not. So I think that's a bit unfair to me, but don't feel sorry for me. I'll still be okay. But I would appreciate if people would look at the positives over comparing to maybe hopefully what would happen to me a few times in my career a year like last year. Or I would say a few times it's happened less than a dozen times to anybody in golf ever in a year. So it seems a bit unfair at 22 to be expecting something like that all the time.

For me I set the expectations high for myself, but I feel like I've been getting a little more frustrated off the golf course than normal. My game feels like it's rounding into shape though. Ball striking has really let me down this year, and I've been actually striking the ball better and better coming from the first round of Akron to the final round, and then this week I felt like I've hit the ball really, really well. And as good as my putting has been this year, which is pretty much the same standard as last year, it just wasn't there this week. If it's there this week and I'm on the right end of the draw, I'm hitting it well enough to be at or really near the lead.

So although I'm so far behind, it's very close, and I feel confident about getting back to kind of the basics at home and getting ready for PGA. Obviously trying to take momentum tomorrow, but understanding that we're going to be working towards PGA now.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297