VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP

March 17, 2023

Jordan Spieth

Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead)

Quick Quotes

Q. Scrappy round of golf. Can you talk about how the conditions were today?

JORDAN SPIETH: I drove the ball maybe the best of the year today. Gave myself a lot of chances with some wedges. There's a lot of back pins and just got a little tentative for a few holes. Then I decided to attack one on 10 and flew the green. So it was just kind of like couldn't quite get my distance control down on some scoring clubs. But when the wind here is gusty like that and the green depths are so small, it's, it gets really, really tricky. Doesn't take much. Keep driving the ball like that, I feel like I can fine tune some of the scoring clubs and maybe get a few more looks.

Q. Speaking of adapting to this golf course, you knew they were going to try and soften the greens a little bit with the forecast of the wind. Was it adjusting to the speed of the greens at all, was that an issue today, just figuring out what they were going to do?

JORDAN SPIETH: It was the entire issue on the difference for me from yesterday to today. If I hit 18 putts, 14 of 'em weren't tap-ins and 11 of the 14 were short. So I just left if they were missed low it was because of speed. A couple were on line, short. So that was a little frustrating because they still looked, they almost started to dry out, but then they weren't speeding up. That's a weird combination for us is kind of glassy but slower. I didn't make the adjustment today. So we're going to get some rain it looks like tomorrow, I don't know when, but they will be able to speed 'em up a little bit. Hopefully we're able to get these two rounds in without too much of a delay.

Q. Seems optimistic, given how the driver was acting, that you could figure it out on the greens?

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I hope so. Up and down on 18 was big. It's nice to shoot under par or even on a day where you felt like you kind of had to get it around. It's a tough track. I don't think I lost any ground shooting 1-under, but in order to go out and capture it you got to do a little bit better than that on the weekend.

Q. Curious if you are the type of player who thinks about peaking four times a year. Do you subscribe to that thought process?

JORDAN SPIETH: I have in the past and then I would say over the last 10 years it's just peak when you can and try and keep it as long as possible.

Q. Last thing is, like where on the journey towards peaking do you feel right now?

JORDAN SPIETH: I have clarity on how to get there. That's really what's important in the game. I know what I need to do to get to the best, the, to get to my ceiling, the best that I can be. It's hard to progress significantly in some ways while I'm playing tournaments. But it's also hard to get game action at home when you can kind of really try and force some things an extra 10 percent.

But on and around the greens I feel like I'm there. I have a round like today off the tee where I'm there. But then like the approach game and the wedge game, which has been pretty solid, wasn't quite there. So it's like to get it all really consistent I just feel like I'm, at this point, I'm not focusing on one thing it's like, hey, what's off, let's spend a little extra time doing that. So I think the clarity is what's important and trying to figure out how to get to where you're peaking. Then once you're there it's about picking a plan that maintains each facet of the game while also saving energy. It's tricky.