WM PHOENIX OPEN

February 11, 2023

Jordan Spieth

TPC Scottsdale

Quick Quotes

Q. You were really challenged after the 3-putt at 11 and you respond by playing the rest of the golf course in 3-under par. Giving you a chance on Sunday.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, that was pretty much the day. I made one on 1 and I thought I'm just going to continue what I started with this morning finishing the second round. Then played 11 holes or so in 2-over with no birdies. Just felt like I never really had any chances. I was long on some holes, short on some holes. It was really nice. I thought the last four holes were going to play harder today than any other day. I just wanted to play them 1-under. So to grab an extra one there on 17 was certainly a bonus. Coming in with a better chance tomorrow.

Q. A bonus is an understatement. It's one of the better bunker shots I've ever seen. 77 yards. A little bit long. If the ball doesn't grab it can go down to the red line and penalty area.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I could drop a bucket of balls and not hit another one inside of 10 feet. But I was in that bunker in the first round and I hit a great shot to a tucked right pin. I feel like it's a strength of my game is those kind of in-between bunker shots that are normally some of the most challenging shots in golf. For whatever reason I just feel comfortable in the uncomfortable in those kind of situations. It was nice for it to get within five feet making that birdie putt quite a bit easier. But I was really just trying to leave it up on top of the hill and if it happened to get the firm bounce it would be perfect and that's what happened.

Q. I thought your stroke looked good all day. Putts weren't going in, but you had very few putts that you had to mark. The weight of your putts were very good. I would think that putts that don't go in sometimes go in on Sunday.

JORDAN SPIETH: That's the hope, right. I've had it happen before, so I hope that it's tomorrow. It feels good. I've been working on a lot of things, which there's no bigger challenge than under this kind of pressure here. The greens got, after having the traffic of a round and a half on 'em they were, they got a little bit dicey there towards the end of the round. So you just have to put full trust, control what you can control. Once they start to fall, hopefully that hole starts to look big. So I'm looking to get a couple early tomorrow.

Q. This is obviously a different kind of tournament. How do you deal with it? Do you just laugh inside or do you listen to the comments on stuff? There's always some funny stuff that comes out of the gallery.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I mean, I kind of -- I mean, the funny stuff is great. I just kind of ignore and go about my business. I haven't played into it a ton. I haven't shushed anybody. It's the Waste Management Open. It is what it is. If you fight it it becomes worse. If you embrace it you better be ready for just about anything.

I thoroughly enjoy it. Don't get me wrong. But I'm saying my reactions are more just -- you hear everything. Positive, negative, anything in between. "Toe it in the water." While I'm on 18 tee box. And you're just like, Oh, well, maybe I would say that if I was 17 beers in. I try not to judge and just recognize that they're just in a different frame of mind. I've got a lot of support out here. That part feels great.

Q. Looking forward to tomorrow when things might be a little tamer around here?

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I remember the Sunday in 2015 in a relatively similar position with a Super Bowl that day. I remember that being one of the louder Sundays. So I expect to see a lot of jerseys.

For me, unfortunately, I expect a lot of -- for those who know that I'm from Dallas, it's not really great that the Eagles are in the Super Bowl. So hopefully I can kind of sneak by that. But it's been a little bit tough in that front, as it should be so far. So I'll try and dodge the Eagles fans. Maybe they will go follow somebody else.

Q. In round 2 you hit 18 greens in regulation. I believe the stat was you haven't done that since 2013. Can you talk about how that round went for you?

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I've been feeling really good ever since -- I came out here -- I played in Pebble on Monday and I finished my final round of that tournament and I flew here and then came out here in the afternoon to get some work in. Because my coach was here. I really thought we put in a really good hour on that Monday. I got in a really good frame of mind for what I was going to work on this week. It probably felt its best Thursday and yesterday. Today as it got hotter I got a little bit loose and a little out of control at times. But I wouldn't -- I definitely have seen stuff like that coming. It's not super surprising to piece that second round together. It builds a lot of confidence, hitting 18 greens. I mean, I made a bogey off a 3-putt. I got four 3-putts in three days. I need to eliminate those tomorrow because the ball striking has been there in those rounds.