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WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 18, 2013Jordan SpiethGREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA JOHN BUSH: Jordan Spieth joins us here in the interview room. Jordan, fell a little short there but what a day it was not the least of which was the putt for par on the first playoff hole. Talk a little about the day as a whole first. JORDAN SPIETH: You know, it started the same way as the John Deere, bogey on the 1st. Just kind of not a great start. Two bad decisions already off the bat and I told Michael about the 3rd hopefully that I needed 5, I needed to get to 14 I thought would be good enough at the time and then birdied 4 and didn't birdie 5 or 6 and I think 5 was playing the par 4 today and 6 was playing a par 3 the way the tees were moved up. You know, so, really, honestly, I shot 1-under on the front-9 and a little disappointing because a couple of holes were so easy. Guys were moving up to 13, 14-under. You know, I told Michael we need to get 4 on the back-9 and he kept me grounded. We kind of -- we stayed in the present, didn't think too much ahead and, you know, one birdie came, another birdie came, started to get some confidence with the putter and made a couple par saves I had to make. I think I probably only had 11 or -- probably only had 10, 11 putts on the back-9 which is really reassuring when I was feeling the pressure and needed to make it on 17 and I guess as I made that, Patrick bogeyed and all of a sudden I'm tied for the lead and, you know, I really did what I had to do. I felt like even compared to -- I felt better than I did even compared to down the stretch at John Deere, which I was able to make birdies there. As far as nerves and pressure, felt a lot more calm today and just executed the plan perfectly on the back-9 and fortunately it ended up being good enough for the playoff and from there, I don't even know how I was still playing No. 10 after what happened on 18. And then they signal his out of bounds. All right. This is it here and we get up there and find his ball and he hits a shot that I don't think he'll ever forget and he deserved it. I hit a great putt. I hit three great shots on 18 and -- I mean on 10, I'm sorry, three great shots on 10. Flushed an 8-iron up there right where it had to be, right where you can make a putt and I had the same putt as earlier today and missed it on the other side of the hole. So, maybe next year when the pin is there I'll make it (laughter.)       Q.  Just take us through the 18th hole, the playoff. What happened on the tee shot? JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah. In regulation -- I was feeling a little more comfortable playing a little fade off the tee today with the driver versus a draw. In regulation I started one down the left center and had a little baby fade to the middle of the fairway. Just trying to hit the same shot. And, you know, I think back to what happened when I was waiting in the John Deere playoff and I went over on the range, hit a lot of drives, tee shots to get prepared for that. Today, I didn't think I would have the time. I probably did, probably should have gone over there and stayed loose with my swing. Instead I just went to the putting green. So, you know, I just had a little bit of a double-cross. Came over. The club face stayed square so actually had a really good swing for a smoke draw right in the middle of the face. Unfortunately that happened because then it chased even further down. Actually hit a great shot out of the pine straw through -- split some trees to get it down to the base of the hill. Pulled a wedge. Flew the wedge like 150 just so pumped up uphill, and then I had the putt and Michael walked by said, "Why not? Patrick is up there 7 feet." I expect him to make that. The one thing on my mind was to get the putt to the hole on 18 for par and you know, we were just -- I was kind of smiling up at the green. I wasn't too tense, I wasn't too -- I wasn't negative. I just stayed positive the whole time and, you know, put a great stroke on it, hit it right on my line and from whatever it was, 40 feet, you got to catch some luck for it to roll that true the whole way and it did. Q. What club did you hit into 17 and secondly, do you feel, still feel like you're playing with house money? JORDAN SPIETH: 17 in regulation? Q. Yes. JORDAN SPIETH: I hit a 9-iron. I hit -- the ball was above my feet at the right pin which is hard and I trusted a high draw in there and I was 148 or something a little into the breeze and I figured it would be a big 9 and I don't think I've ever hit an iron shot as good as I hit that one. Right at it. I thought it might dunk. Actually flew a little too far there. Made the putt to keep going. Q. Still feel like playing with house money? JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah. Obviously when you get in a position in a playoff where it's one-on-one, especially with the momentum I had, you know, I'm dying to win. I mean winning is what it's all about. It doesn't matter about the money, it doesn't matter about what you've made this year, what you've done. When I'm in the position where I'm one-on-one to win a PGA golf tournament it's pretty special. It's a lot of fun. You know, I love feeling the nerves. I love the adrenaline rush. That's what it's all about. So, it is a little disappointing but, at the same time, you know, I did what I had to do. I hit one bad swing in that two hole stretch and Patrick -- I walked over to his ball over in the woods. I wanted to see what he had to see what I maybe had to do and he didn't have much. The ball is resting against a wire and he really -- I didn't think he could hit the ball that high and stop it from that lie, from 150 yards. So, I hit a shot right back there. After I hit it I'm like, "Okay, I'm going to have a putt to win the golf tournament." That's the way I was thinking. So I'm up at the green, see his shot and as it keeps on gliding in the air. I thought maybe the way he hit it it would come down short. It kept on going in the air. Wow, that looks really good. I was up next to the green. Hit right there and stopped right at the crest of the hill 7 feet away. It was one of the best shots I've ever witnessed so obviously he won't forget it. JOHN BUSH: Anything else? Q. We saw you give him a thumbs up. What you say to him on the green when he got up there? JORDAN SPIETH: I said, "That was a heck of a shot. I walked over to your ball, I know you didn't have anything there." He goes, "No, I didn't." That just shows how crazy good the shot was. I mean David Feherty walked over there and looked at it. I'm sure you'll get a good -- whatever the interview Patrick is doing right now, I'm sure he's telling him he had nothing. He really didn't. It was a nice break to come back from hitting in the trees but, you know, he made use of it and I'm just -- I'm happy with the way I hit my putt. It was a difficult putt, a putt that I struggled with the whole week was right to lefters that were swinging, left a lot of them out here. Missed a lot of until today. I was making them all. I had all the confidence in the world and hit my line right on. Held up a little at the end. Q. Did you think halfway to the hole it was going to be good? JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah. My putt -- it's one of those you're hitting it so high you don't really realize if it's going to be good until probably last three, four feet and, yeah, it looked like it was trekking. I knew it needed to break a little bit. I know there's a little knob right there where the hill may hold it up. But earlier today, that's what I thought and it snapped off. So, we played it for it to break a lot more and I guess I was at a little different angle and just enough angle for it to be around the lip. It was really close to hitting that lip and going in. It wasn't going very fast. JOHN BUSH: All right. Jordan, we appreciate your time. Thank you, sir. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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