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WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 15, 2013Jordan SpiethGREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA Q. This is not his first time around this Sedgefield track. Did play a couple of HHGA events where you finished Top-5 in those events. What do you like about this course and how did it help you today putting that great number up? JORDAN SPIETH: It's very tight. You have to commit to lines off the tee. It's the most demanding part about it. Greens are slick and pure. Very easy to make putts on. Not spiking up in the afternoon. You know, fortunately I hit my 3-wood really well off the tee today, was able to have a lot of wedges in and capitalized on some short birdie putts. Q. What about the highlight of your round coming on the par 5 15th? As soon as you made contact you started verbalizing it. Next thing we hear, it banged off the bleachers and on the green. JORDAN SPIETH: I was in the rough, caught a little jumper. Probably had the wrong club. I took 3-wood, maybe should have hit 3-iron. I didn't think it was going to go that far and I started running up to see if it's going to hit the hole and kind of heard it hit plastic, glass, whatever it was, and all of a sudden it's on the green. I started laughing. Just one of those breaks that turns a 67 or 68 into a 65. So, obviously very fortunate with that bounce. Q. Jordan, a lot of firsts for you this year. Obviously getting your first win and about to encounter your first FedExCup Playoff experience. What do you feel with not only this tournament but how do you get yourself in the proper mindset for the stretch run that could really put a lost cash in your pocket? Just make sure that everyone understands you are an up and coming star. JORDAN SPIETH: The Playoffs put exclamation points, if you play well there, it puts an exclamation point on a good year. I don't know what to expect. I'm going to go into it how I approach any other tournament. Fortunately, I've played in a few Majors this year to deal with this pressure, the preparation for those. I feel like it's not going to be much different. I'm going to go into New Jersey next week and play to win, play the same way I've been playing all year and, you know, it's nice to have low rounds like today to get some confident against. Q. Jordan, that was a fun first round. We had a lot of exciting things happen there but you did have five birdies, no bogies. It appeared every time you needed to lean on the short game it responded for you. JORDAN SPIETH: I think I only missed three greens. Couple of those were pretty tough up and downs. You know, it was very, very stress-free. I had to make a 5-footer for par on 11. Other than that, I think my longest par putt was two and a half, three feet. It's a round you want to have in the first round and get off to a good start and I don't have -- now I can just kind of look up on top of the leaderboard. I think I'm still going to be one or two back. Q. Can you tell us about that second shot on the 15th hole? You went deep with this second one, put it over the Blue Monster. Bounced out right in front of the green for you. JORDAN SPIETH: It was unbelievable. Fortunately didn't hit anybody, let alone getting back on to the green. Caught a flyer out of the rough with a 3-wood and that's always really dangerous. The more club you hit the worse the flyer is going to be. I'm interested to kind of watch the shot later and see, maybe see in it slow mo, see what happened. Obviously very fortunate break and real happy I took advantage I have with a birdie. Q. Tell us about the 18th because you really handled that hole, it is listed at 507. Yes, it is downhill. You hit a big drive and great second shot to three feet away. JORDAN SPIETH: It funnels right down. I hit a straight ball. My driver had been five yards right, five yards left the whole day which was okay. It was a good driving day. But I was looking for one to maybe split it there because get an extra 60 yards. So, I didn't know -- how -- in the previous rounds I missed the fairway. I didn't know how far I could go down there, maybe if it firms up might have to watch out. That was down there close to the water. I had a short iron, 9-iron in my hand and it all feeds around the hole. Yeah, just got a good break off the ridge. Q. Jordan, how surprised are you to be just one shot back after your first round here as a pro? JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah. It is a course I'm familiar with which really helps but, you know, I missed the cut at PGA which was disappointing, went home for a few days to try to set things straight, kind of get my confidence back and actually played a lot of golf at home instead of hitting the range, just to try make as many birdies as I could and get some low rounds under my belt. Came out here with -- to a golf course that's very tight and if I'm driving the ball well I'll have a lot of wedge opportunities. You know, my distance control was solid today into the greens and you know, my birdie putts other than No. 2 were no more than 6, 7 feet. Very happy with tee to green how I'm striking it and you know, I'll probably hit a few putts on the putting green. That was great, too. Q. Can you talk about your no, no, no, no, yes moment on 18? JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah. You know, when I hit it I didn't think it was going really bad.  I thought it might be a little long. I knew there was a ridge there, I guess it probably climbed up to the top of the ridge in order for it to feed all the way down there. But I had 9-iron in my hand so even if I was a little off from what I was trying to do I knew it would still be a decent look at birdie. I was going a little left of where I wanted and got a nice break. Q. What's the most important thing these next three days to keep you in the hunt? JORDAN SPIETH: I really just need to play golf like I did today. It was stress-free. I had to make a 5-footer for par on 11, 6-footer for par on 11. Other than that, longest par putt I had was maybe two feet. Tee to green it needs to be the same thing that it was today. The rough is not too high here which is helpful. Still reach the green, actually get some spin on the ball but, you know, just need to be solid off the tee box. Q. From last Friday when you missed the cut at the PGA what has changed in your game to now? JORDAN SPIETH: It was really close at the PGA. I caught a draw where I played Friday morning in some heavy rain which didn't help because I was a little off with my driver, 3-wood anyways. You add rain to it, my confidence a little bit swing-wise, ball striking-wise it was still there, really close. I just needed to kind of get back and tweak a little alignment here and there but it wasn't much from being a couple low rounds last week. Nice to have it here. Q. I know you took the week off to kind of regenerate. Was it maybe a little bit of rust? Was it kind of little bit of rust from taking the week off from Bridgestone to PGA? JORDAN SPIETH: No. I needed the rest, I really did. My caddy was getting married, too, so you know, all in all it was a week that I won't ever skip another World Golf Championship but it was a week that seemed to be the right week to take off and I stand by it. I don't think there's any rust. I think it was just practice rounds I was playing great, just didn't get off to a great start and hard to come back at a Major. Nice to be here on a course where you can make birdies and the greens are perfect here and starting to make a few more putts. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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