It was just a bogey putt from inside 5 feet. Yet Jordan Spieth walked it in – and the whole complexion of his second round, perhaps even his entire weekend, perhaps even his entire two weeks in his home state of Texas, changed.
Starting Friday’s round off the 10th tee, the defending champ had already suffered two bogeys in his first four holes and was guaranteed of another lost stroke at the par-4 14th, having failed to get up-and-down from the greenside rough. The last thing he wanted to do was three-putt the green and walk away with a potentially crippling double bogey.
It was kind of shocking because it was a bogey putt to go to 3 over, and no one really walks those in. It was exactly what I needed to get the confidence that I’ve been working towards back in that putter. From there, I hit great putts the rest of the round.
So he called in caddie Michael Greller to help him read the putt. Spieth and Greller had recently tried to stay away from the constant back-and-forth analysis of shots and let Spieth free-flow a little more.
“We’ve been working to kind of stay out of each other’s business,” Spieth explained. “ … Trying to go back to kind of an ‘I play my game’ and stop over-dissecting kind of each situation. Talk less and just hit the shots.”
But this putt was too important. A second set of eyes could help.
Greller provided his thoughts and helped Spieth commit to the line. Then he told Spieth to hit the putt with confidence and walk it in – which he did.
“It was kind of shocking because it was a bogey putt to go to 3 over, and no one really walks those in,” Spieth said. “It was exactly what I needed to get the confidence that I’ve been working towards back in that putter. From there, I hit great putts the rest of the round.”
Indeed. Spieth rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt at the next hole, made a 10-footer to save par at the 18th, then made four birdies in the next five holes after the turn. Two of those birdies were from distance – 27 feet at the fourth hole, and 13-1/2 feet at the fifth.
Spieth finished with a 2-under 68, one of the better rounds in the morning wave, which leaves him at 2 under for the tournament. Worried just a few hours earlier whether he miss the cut for the third straight start (including last week at his hometown event, the AT&T Byron Nelson), Spieth now enters the weekend with a realistic shot at becoming the first defending champ to win since Ben Hogan in 1953.
“I played 5-under on my last 13 holes,” Spieth said. “That’s the round of the day. That’s what we needed to see. …“That would’ve been really, really tough for me to swallow if I missed this cut. It was in my head. I normally never talk about the cut line, and it was in my head, given I don’t miss two cuts in a row. So back is against the wall. To be able to come back – definitely a lot of confidence.”
One thing Spieth definitely wants to avoid this weekend, though, is getting off to a slow start.
On Thursday, he bogeyed two of his first four holes in a rollercoaster afternoon that ended with an even-par 70. The stress after Friday’s first five holes was even more pronounced. He survived only because he did something he had never done before in his Colonial history – play holes 1 through 5 (that include the Horrible Horseshoe of Nos. 3, 4 and 5) in 4 under.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done that,” Spieth said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been 2-under on those holes.”
He’ll gladly take that on Saturday.