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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 7, 2017

Jordan Spieth

Augusta, Georgia

Q. How do you feel about your position now than you did say five holes ago?
JORDAN SPIETH: Well, yeah, significantly better. From yesterday at this point in time, drastically. So, it was a really good day today at Augusta National. I'm very pleased with the second round of this Masters and we're in a position now where we, I think, can go out there and win this thing and certainly make a run.
So, that right there just kind of gives me chills, because after yesterday I was really disappointed in being 10 shots off the lead. But those last couple putts, I had confidence in them, put really nice strokes on them and I finally got them to go. It took awhile today. I hit all nine greens on the back nine and had three birdies and one of them was a 2‑putt.
So, they were getting close and then finally I saw the one go in on 16, put a good run on 17 and the one on 18 it was nice to see that one drop.

Q. Was it just a matter of as simple as making putts or not making putts, the difference between yesterday and today or was there something else?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yesterday it was, obviously, my wedge decision. I mean, if I just hit a stock wedge like I normally do in there, I'm four shots better. So that's what it was yesterday.
I thought my speed control is not ideal right now, not where we're used to having it out here, which is why the putts haven't necessarily been going in. It's not hitting my lines, it's not anything but speed control, and that's what I'm going to need to significantly improve to see some putts from mid‑range, like those last couple holes, go in. And you have to make those on the weekend here in order to win the Tournament.
So, putting a premium for me this weekend on driving the ball, I've got to do a bit better at that, and then obviously controlling the speed on the greens.

Q. Did the rules official look at what happened at 13 and reaffirm that what you guys saw was right?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah. Yeah, they looked at it. And I had a couple balls today, two on greens and one in the rough there where it's oscillating. The wind kind of was a factor about that one wasn't really the wind that was more it was it was fluffy rough and as you set your club down a lot of times the ball will rest with it and come back and that's not a penalty.
And I just got a little confused as I took it back, because my club was grounded and as I picked it up, it did kind of the little moving back and forth. And so I stopped and I said, man, did that move? I thought that it may have moved. And Michael had his eye on it and Michael is the most honest person in the world, if he thought it moved, or even thought there was a chance, he would have told me. And so that was enough confirmation for me.
And we brought the rules official in, they reviewed it, and he confirmed on 14 fairway that it in fact had just oscillated.

Q. What do you expect on the weekend? Do you think they will change it up?
JORDAN SPIETH: No, I think they like where it's at. I think we're looking at a somewhat similar to the last, 2016 and 2014 Masters. I think these greens are going to bake out, you're going to see putting become a lot more difficult than it was, even though it was windy, I think the actual putts you have are going to be more challenging, because the greens are going to be a foot faster and they're going to get a bit crusty around some of the hole locations. They were already starting to get that way. They weren't firm, fortunately, but they will start to get that way by Sunday. I imagine balls will be bouncing some and it will be a different golf course than what we saw yesterday.

Q. Do you feed off the crowd out there, obviously they're encouraging, they're psyched when you're making birdie putts, do you feed off that energy?
JORDAN SPIETH: Absolutely. I certainly felt it towards the end of the round. And the crowds are so great and they have been so gracious to me and our history out here and it's just incredible to play in front of them. This is my favorite tournament with the galleries here and The Open Championship, those are the two that are, we look forward to the galleries feeding us. And I think that that can happen in both places and especially as you come in this finishing stretch. And I think tomorrow, it looks like I'll be paired with Phil, we're both, I'm sure, we'll enjoy that and try and feed off of it.

Q. It seemed like Michael kept you in the moment. He said, wait a minute, let's bring a rules official in. On 13.
JORDAN SPIETH: Oh, yeah, yeah, he was, yeah, he was‑‑ he normally kind of takes a back seat, he was adamant about it. And then when we got confirmation, it was nice because we kind of regrouped and finished the round from there.
But he was sure about it. For me, it was kind of in the moment of taking it back. And so I was pleased to, obviously, not have that stroke. So, it was nice to also hit that 5‑iron up there on to the green, especially after backing off a couple times.

Q. When you go back to yesterday is it easy to rebound off of what happened because you just happened to make a bad decision on club selection as opposed to a bad swing?
JORDAN SPIETH: It's actually harder for me. It's definitely harder to get over a club selection than it is a bad swing. Bad swings happen and you practice for the bad swings not to happen, but the club choices, decisions, which it's definitely very difficult out here all the time, let alone when it's windy, but that's definitely tougher to get over, because I put a good swing on it and I did kind of did my part. But our part together of dissecting how far it's playing, what it's going to do when it reacts, was just ‑‑ and do we take our medicine? That's what's kind of tough looking back.
And I'm over it, but it is, even being at even par now, and with the finish we had, part of me is thinking, you know, what if we had those four strokes back, you know? It's not the way necessarily to think and it won't affect me when I'm playing this weekend, because it is what it is. But it's harder when it's a decision versus an execution.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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