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THE NORTHERN TRUST

August 9, 2019

Jordan Spieth

Jersey City, New Jersey

Q. Yesterday you said that the winds were really bothering you out there in the afternoon. What was it like for you here this morning?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, it was blowing. It just made it tougher yesterday. This morning, we actually had some wind our first six or seven holes and it died down, as it kind of starts to turn a little bit around the compass. I was able to take advantage.

Hit the ball pretty similar between the two days. I just made more putts today. I found myself in some easier locations on the greens to be able to knock some mid-rangers in, but I thought the course setup may have been a little bit easier with the pins, too, maybe after the 10th through 12th holes were pretty nasty and from there, it was relatively gettable.

Q. You mentioned approach to the green and your putting. You are currently first in both of those categories. Either one of those are you more proud of than the other?
JORDAN SPIETH: Well, I think that the turnaround in ball-striking week-to-week is certainly awesome to see that it's possible; that it is just -- that it was close. It's kind of verification of what I've been talking about. You know, halfway there. Off to a good start.

I'd like to gain a little bit better control off the tee than I did today. Kind of got a little wayward but very pleased with the halfway point.

Q. Where does this rank for ball-striking wise, these first two rounds for the season?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, up there with better ball-striking of the year, for sure. I'm just tracking on a much better place throughout the golf swing. It's just been trying to figure out how to track it that way has been kind of the tough part. But the wedge play has really come back. That's really big for me, wedge and short irons, and certainly able to control it off the tee a bit better, too.

Q. When you talk about confidence like you did yesterday, I think people think of making birdie putts and things like that, but it seemed like 8 and 9, your Houdini acts on those two holes, is that really where you just feel like: I can get that 11-foot downhill putt in or I can get out of this --
JORDAN SPIETH: You know, I think confidence for me is knocking in birdie putts, too. When you're at 3, 4-under, pushing it to 6-, 7-under, that's what I'm looking to do, not being afraid to go low, kind of thing. Just continuing to see that when you get to a few under, keep the pedal down.

8 and 9 were very different today. 8 I picked up my tee. I thought I drove it in the left center of the fairway and it worked its way into like the lip of a fairway bunker and from there I hit a good shot and it ended up in I think somebody's Wednesday divot that was pointed at like No. 12 tee, and it was in sand, too. I'm like, I'm either going to blade this over the green or -- there's almost nothing I can do. I went for the chunk and then that putt was big. I mean, that putt -- that was a big putt. That was a par 5 that you certainly don't want to make a 6 on. Just it was my best putt of the week, no doubt, and with kind of how I got what I felt like were kind of couple bad bounces there, I ended up -- that made up for it with two phenomenal bounces on 9. Once I got on the green there, that putt, there was nowhere else it could go by in the hole. It was like a magnet to the hole. I had already got away with jail, so it was certainly nice to cap it off.

Q. And 9?
JORDAN SPIETH: 9, I hit it right, and it had landed just right of the cart path. It was sitting pretty bad but I was standing on the cart path, so I could take a drop. Was able to place it because of the slope, not downgrain, but like side grain. So it still was on fescue and it was still a jumper, but it landed just right of the green like into the fairway kind of on one of the knobs and just deadened it and went to 15 feet and I made the putt, or 18 feet.

Q. How many times where a ball would hit a cart path and bounce right out-of-bounds, I'm thinking of L.A. at No. 5 and stuff like that -- have you ever had moments like this, thinking that maybe a little karma --
JORDAN SPIETH: You know, it's funny, when I look back, when things are going well, you do end up getting all the bounces, too. It's just amazing how it works. When you're playing well, you're confident, you're positive the whole time that it goes your way and when you're not, they just don't. There's something to it. Some would say the golf gods, but that's just the way it works.

After No. 8, I hit that tee ball on 9 thinking if I could get any kind of break, I'm going to say that certainly makes up for anything today that happened on any kind of bounces, and when it did, I felt like I stole one or two.

Do I look at it as turning a massive turning point? No. I think I look at it from a daily perspective of, yeah, I've got a nice break there after one that maybe didn't go my way. Overall, playing those two holes with 1-under, where I was at, was stealing a stroke or two.

Q. Where are you on the confidence meter with two more rounds like this the next two days, where would a win be for you?
JORDAN SPIETH: Throw me up as high as I can be, yeah.

Q. Talk about finding that formula --
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I mean, the important thing for me is not to; not to get ahead of myself. I mean, it's to just continue to try and be consistent. I'm just trying to get -- historically, I'm a very consistent player. I've lost a bit of that. I still have the firepower but that consistency is what I'm trying to get back, and there's certainly going to be times where.

I'm in position, and there's going to be times where I'm out of position over the weekend. It's about limiting the mistakes. You know, one bogey over 36 holes is somewhat unrealistic week-to-week. But if I can hold it close to that for the next 36, again, that firepower is still there. And it would certainly shoot my confidence up.

Q. Do these two rounds make you feel old playing with Matt Wolff --
JORDAN SPIETH: It's weird, it wasn't until maybe last year, I was like, okay, now there are some guys that are younger, but Matt's like, what, 5 1/2 years younger. That's pretty weird. That certainly is.

Q. He said he was in high school when you won John Deere.
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, if even. Yeah. He would maybe still have been in eighth grade I think.

Q. How does that affect you?
JORDAN SPIETH: It was awesome. It doesn't affect me at all. I think what he's been able to accomplish has been just really, really cool. We had kind of some good talks about my path and his path, and you know, it was a good hang. It was a good hang on the course. We had a great time together. Certainly wished the best for him. I love his mentality, the way he plays the game. He's got a solid putting stroke. He's aggressive with the swing. He swings his own swing, which I can certainly look at and say, maybe I don't have to be perfect. You know there, is no -- it doesn't have to be next book. Just be yourself. I can learn stuff from him. When you look back, it's more similar to me when I was 20 than I am now and I can actually learn how to get back to that style of golf, which is a better way to play the game.

Q. Is there a day when you know your putting well -- and if there; what is it?
JORDAN SPIETH: I can normally tell if I'm stroking it well off the practice green going to the first hole. Today for me it wasn't the case at all. Actually I've had some bad sessions on the green here. But the putt I hit on 15 today, I found a real stable setup and I could feel the weight of the putter with me instead of searching through the stroke, and from there, I hit good putts.

Q. 14 from 60-odd feet --
JORDAN SPIETH: Doesn't mean I'm still not going to make putts, but it didn't feel great.

Q. Do you need a good round tomorrow to erase your scar tissue?
JORDAN SPIETH: I don't think so. Again I'm just going for consistency. I don't need anything. Certainly would be nice. I've got some work to do. I've got -- there were still some good shots. They were tighter than they have been but I did get a little off on my back nine with the long clubs, so I'd really like to fine-tune that for tomorrow's round. Again if I'm putting the ball in the right positions off the tee, I feel really confident about the rest of the game.

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