Media Center Interviews
April 1, 2021
First Round Interview with Jordan Spieth
Q. Jordan, 5-under 67 in these conditions here this morning. How would you say your game stacked up to it?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, overall with the score, I certainly would have signed up for 5 under starting out. Felt like I played some really nice golf on our front nine, the back nine. Then just kind of got a little loose off the tee on the front nine, our second nine, and was able to kind of make due. I hit some decent drives, ended up in iffy spots. Overall, just chipped and putted really well, which was the difference maker today. I didn't quite hit it as good as I have been, but certainly the short game came through. Just kind of put a little more emphasis on that this week, so kind of a little balancing act right now trying to get enough work in on all facets of the game.
Q. Do you feel like you stole one on the eighth hole?JORDAN SPIETH: Oh, yeah, but then I feel like I gave one back on 9. In the fairway on 8, if you told my I could play in even par, I would have taken it, so no reason to get too upset on 9. I did for sure steal one. I had 208 to that back right pin. I was trying to just kind of cut it into the breeze and have it come down short of the ridge. The wind kind of stopped, so it got all the way back there and took advantage. I won't make many birdies from that far in on that hole very often.
Q. Was there a little bit of self repair on 9? I know you took the provisional because you thought maybe you put it too deep into the woods, but is there a little bit of "let's see if I can figure out what I did wrong on the previous drive"?JORDAN SPIETH: I mean, no. I've got all afternoon to figure that out on the range. I had really bad contact today. Normally, even if I don't necessarily strike the ball well, normally I'm hitting it close to the middle of the face. So it's hard for me to want to make -- other than just go get some reps in. I mean, the right ones are because I hit some toe balls on the front nine and now I'm playing fade and you don't want to toe it. So I hit it off the heel and those are going to spin over. So it just got a little bit off there today off the tee on contact. The rest of the swing, I mean, I feel like I'm swinging the same and out in front of it and putting a good move on it. I just, when you're off by five, six millimeters off of contact on either side, it will affect that ball flight and get you thinking a little more.
Q. Hence, when you got done hitting that provisional, you looked over at Michael and was looking at your club --JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I was telling him, man, I just can't find the center of the face right 1 now. I hit that one as much off the heel as the one before. Just make sure that I was playing draw versus fade. Anyway, yeah, it was just kind of an off day on contact, but I mean, it's a nice enough afternoon, should be able to get enough reps in and just kind of clean it up a little bit.
Q. And your short game's a great equalizer when you have those contact issues, right?JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, other than 9, I wedged it really well today. Wedged it better than I did the last couple of events and chipped the ball really well. I didn't have much stress for par after missing greens. Hit a couple really nice chip shots on our back nine, the front there in the middle of that. Yeah, I mean, 5 under around this track's a good score. I'd take four more of them. I think tomorrow afternoon it's going to be as challenging as it was this tomorrow morning if not more when we have a little breeze picking up, so I'll be probably chasing somebody around 10 under and just trying to hit fairways and greens.
Q. We saw something you mentioned about Jason Dufner and the impact he had. What's your relationship with him and what kind of stuff have you been taking from Jason.JORDAN SPIETH: Oh, Duf? Yeah, he's somebody that has a good knowledge of the golf swing. He's helped a lot of guys. Just kind of bounce ideas off him. He's been a good friend of mine for a long time. He's been somebody I can always kind of bounce off, hey, I'm trying to do this, you know, what's this feel like to you, that kind of stuff. He's been a good buddy, as I've had a lot of different guys over the years that have been offering advice on and off the golf course to the young guys and that's not out of the ordinary out here.
