	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

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 12, 2017

Jordan Spieth

Charlotte, North Carolina

Q. The five birdies, talk about those.
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I putted better. I had a few more opportunities and then really putted nicely after No. 6 today. Even my par putt on 7 was a good putt.

Found a little something that I was trying out there. It seemed to work out. I felt very good about the way I was stroking it and the way I played the last 10 of the last 11 holes.

Q. Today you were on a mission to win the tournament?
JORDAN SPIETH: I was trying to do just that, trying to play aggressive see how many birdies we could make.

No. 1, I hit a really good shot and if it's two feet right of where it landed, it's probably a look at birdie. Instead I've got a look at par.

Then just didn't really hit greens trying to do too much early. Once I started to find greens in regulation, which is kind of against the plan, which is to fire at flag sticks, once I started to feel better about the putter it freed the rest of the game up to not have to do too much.

Q. Are you surprised scoring isn't lower after the all the rain?
JORDAN SPIETH: They have SubAir, so the course is only playing longer because of the fairways. The greens are maybe just a little less firm than they were before the rain yesterday. They are pretty similar. They are definitely different than they were after the rain yesterday. They are much firmer than they were there. The pins are on knobs. Unless you are in a perfect location, your putt has to be absolutely perfect. You really only have half the hole to make a lot of putts because of where the pins are. That's the defense of the golf course for sure.

Q. You talked about playing this game for a long time. Today you played with a 54-year-old guy. Did that inspire you?
JORDAN SPIETH: I wouldn't say it inspired me. I've played a few rounds with Vijay before. He's a Hall of Fame golfer, somebody who has had unbelievable success. Only a few have in the game. It's kind of a cool moment more than it is inspiring just to say I'm playing with this guy I grew up watching.

Q. (Inaudible)?
JORDAN SPIETH: It's real smooth around the greens what he does, but he just didn't have a great day.

Q. Whatever pressure you felt in the most pressure packed moments, do you think it compares to what Hideki is facing until he wins the first major for his country?
JORDAN SPIETH: It's hard for me to speak to that. I would probably argue Sergio felt more pressure at Augusta than Hideki should feel for a while just given age and close calls and that kind of stuff.

I think Hideki, with the way he's been playing, his misses seem to be birdies right now. The way he finished in Akron, we were watching in the locker room there, was phenomenal. When you have it going, you have it going. He's going to be tough to beat.

I think Kis is holding on to a lead presently. It's hard for me to speak to the pressure he could feel winning the first major for his country. I have zero -- you know I've got no background on handling a question like that, to be honest. I'm sure he feels a little added because of that.

Q. How would you describe this week for you? Was it disappointing?
JORDAN SPIETH: To not have a chance to win. Obviously any week you don't have a chance to win, you've fallen short of where you would like to be. Disappointing would have been going home after two days. I think I saw some highlights today. Like Michael was saying, we could break the season into quarters. This is the start of the fourth quarter. I was U.S. Open Sunday, I was out of it, but I gathered a little something off that Sunday round that led to two wins and two tournaments after that including a major. Just one round like that can do that. That's what I'm looking to do here.

Q. You made some longer putts today. What changed on the greens?
JORDAN SPIETH: What I found in what I was trying to do in my stroke. Where I have been searching a little bit, I found what I think was the solution. It led to a lot better strokes, therefore I can focus more on the speed.

Q. What did you feel like after that stretch of three birdies that if you had finished strong maybe you could have played yourself back in?
JORDAN SPIETH: I doubt it. I think the leading score -- I think the winning score is going to be around 10-under. I mean, if I would have -- what was I? 1-over. If I had birdied one of the last two and I'm at even, it's unrealistic. My goal was to try to work our way into a backdoor Top-10. Kind of stinks because it sets me back there. 18 is just a ridiculously hard hole today.

Q. Webb Simpson was saying the way this course is set up is really challenging. They could have set it up where it's this tough but not this tough?
JORDAN SPIETH: Couple of holes. Couple of holes, it's been stretched to potentially stretched whether it's in the setup of the hole or pin position or both to try and not create a 14-under scenario, to make it even more challenging.

A whole like 18, a lot of guys coming with 6-irons. I had a 5 iron out of the bunker. There's just nowhere to hit it to have a chance for birdie. Even if you had a great drive for the longer hitters, you're still hitting 7 iron into a six feet by six feet area. You can't be below the hole. The greens are so fast that you are lying up from above the hole. But it's only a couple of holes.

We were 2-under with a poor start today with some easier holes to start, too. If it's just on a couple holes then it's just on a couple holes and it's still scorable.

Q. Your assessment of Quail at this point as a major venue?
JORDAN SPIETH: It's certainly a major venue. I played it in 2013, when it had bentgrass I thought it was fantastic. That was the year they lost the greens. The setup was fantastic. The changes are pretty good. I think there's quite a few tournaments coming back here. If you don't fall in love with it right away, you need to.

Q. No birdies at 1?
JORDAN SPIETH: The pin is in a location you have to get lucky.

Q. Do you take solace in the fact that you are so young, that the career Grand Slam is going to come at some point?
JORDAN SPIETH: That's what I was trying to say before the week started. I didn't have it written in a diary from when I was young that I need to win a career grand slam as the youngest ever. That wasn't the goal. The goal was to try and win them all. The goal was to try and get on the PGA Tour and then from there see what happens. And yeah, I have a lot of opportunities.

The PGA Championship I think is going to be the toughest for me. If we look historically back on my career, I think I will play this tournament worse than the other three majors just in the way that it's set up.

I feel like my game truly suits the other three majors maybe more than a PGA Championship. But I believe we can play anywhere and can win anywhere. It's just a matter of having everything in sync at the right time.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297