RBC HERITAGE

April 15, 2022

Jordan Spieth

Harbour Town Golf Links

Quick Quotes

Q. Jordan, take us through the round today. You finished at 5-under.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, we knew it was going to be really challenging just hitting balls, you know whatever it was, 20-mile-an-hour winds gusting, maybe a little higher at times. And it's just really tricky around this place because sometimes down around the trees you either don't feel anything or you feel the opposite.

So you certainly want to be comfortable before hitting each shot. I felt like I drove the ball extremely well. Driving the ball really well around this place, and I played aggressively too, so I had a lot of wedges, which if you're a little off there, it's obviously a lot better than hitting more club in.

Still got to get that putter to heat up. It felt better today, it's just I left quite a few putts short. I think they were slower with the wind. But overall I played a really good round of golf that could have been special.

Q. I'm sure you guys knew that it would be windy, but was it as windy as you expected? Was it windier?

JORDAN SPIETH: I think it was kind of as expected. I think it was more so just -- it had kind of just made a turn during our round, so trying to figure out when that happened because the difference when it's blowing this hard of a little down or a little into could be two clubs. They're not very big greens here, not very big areas to hit it.

So that was really the challenge. It's actually kind of nice when you know for sure it's going one direction than when it's all over the place. Just try to keep it low, keep it in the beacons off the tee, and from there you get some wedge opportunities. So very pleased with the round.

Q. Chip-in on 12, walk us through that.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I hit it up there just in the best shot and then got a wedge knockdown. It wasn't a hard bunker shot, but obviously a bonus for it to go in. Right when I hit it, I thought it was good, maybe had enough to get a little past the hole, and ended up checking up nicely and rolling right in.

At that time, I felt like I was playing a 3 or 4-under round and I was only 1-under. So stealing one back kind of, I think, settled me down. Then I didn't try to force anything coming in.

Q. You mentioned putting. What is the key for you to focus on for the next two days?

JORDAN SPIETH: Definitely just -- I mean, I made good strokes today. Yesterday was kind of the same as the last few weeks where it wasn't really committed and such, but made really nice strokes today. That's going to be the key is I think just hitting them a little harder, adjusting the speed, not being afraid of the three or four-footer coming back.

Patrick birdieing his last four separates, obviously, him from the field and somebody who's won plenty of golf tournaments. It's going to be probably a more aggressive mentality over the weekend.

Q. How impressive with those last four birdies considering the conditions?

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I think 18's probably the most impressive of the bunch. They are kind of wedges on 15, 16, and 17, but you've still got to -- I didn't birdie any of them. So obviously significantly better than me.

That just shows you that it's out there. Even when it's that windy, you can still make birdies on this golf course. Hopefully he cools off a little bit, and we can make a few ourselves.

Q. Conditions like today, how do they challenge some of the things that you've been working on in your swing?

JORDAN SPIETH: I feel really good about -- my ball striking's been really solid, but you do have to step up and kind of work it both ways. You don't have a lot of room off the tees to start it far offline, so you've got to be pretty confident in keeping it down, hitting it up, working it right to left and left to right.

So in that sense, just timing-wise, just trusting everything is just a little bit harder. But drove it really nicely. Could be quite a bit sharper with the short irons and certainly with the putter.