Q. Jordan, was that the start you were looking for today? Take us through the round a bit.
JORDAN SPIETH: Three was my goal. I wanted to be 3-under on 18 fairway. So not technically, but I was off to the right start. And then from where I was on my third shot on 13 until I went to 16 tee, certainly expecting to be a couple shots better, if not three shots better.
So just a couple untimely drives. Like been driving the ball really nicely. I just hit it just a few yards too far right on seven, few yards too far right on 14 and those are two holes where if you do that it's nearly impossible to hit the green in regulation and really get it close for par.
So it's kind of like you can name a dozen holes out of the 14 where you got to hit a drive that makes a difference. I think I just -- if I had missed it that amount a couple different holes and hit the good ones there, you know, they were kind of full shot differences off the tee. I wasn't driving it poorly. It just was kind of coincidentally on those holes if that makes sense.
Q. You mentioned the past couple tournaments that you feel the swing is there but the results aren't matching up. Was today a case of that?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah -- no, it was pretty similar but, again, doesn't mean do anything differently. Just I don't take four to get in from a greenside bunker on 15 very often.
You know, just had a lie that I thought it was going to come out super fast and didn't. And then I was -- I wasn't tentative on the greens. I just thought they were quicker and I left a number of putts short. You can't leave the five-footers downhill for your par putts if you can get it below the hole.
So I made kind of a couple mistakes in that regard. Got away with one or two and didn't on 15. That's the kind of stuff that's been happening. I'm in position to make birdie and walk off with a six on a random hole. Give me a dozen balls in there I probably make birdie on 10 and make bogey on one and par on the other. You know what I mean?
I feel good about it. It's like close to clicking and it just didn't quite click today.
Q. On 15 green looked like Michael was agitated. Was there a distraction?
JORDAN SPIETH: Guy was repairing the divot on 16 and he didn't see. It was like -- I'm not really bothered by much. I don't really care normally about people, I care about like wind and stuff like that. I don't really care about people or noise.
But it was like right when I'm looking up I was just seeing white just move. So I was like I just -- he didn't hear -- normally I would be like, hey, Mikey and then he normally says it and it's not an issue. He didn't hear him.
No big deal. Still got into it and when I hit the putt I thought I hit the putt I wanted.
Hit a bad second putt, but no, it wasn't -- it was just -- that happens every week, something like that.
Q. What was the ruling on 18?
JORDAN SPIETH: I just was curious as to how I could back in. Like it's supposed to be path of least resistance. I was wondering how I could get into there without disrupting anything, and also like if you back in and a leaf falls but you don't move and hit the shot, I was just making sure I was going to go in the right way and not cause an issue.
I did we will to get it out in the fairway, and frankly I don't know how many people in the world make a four from that tee ball. So that was -- I'm walking off with a smile on my face. I'm happier than you walk off bogeying to shoot 1-under and I would've been more upset that I make par to shoot even, and it's funny how the game works, right?
Q. What have you learned over the past ten years here?
JORDAN SPIETH: Where to be aggressive, where to not. A lot has to do with like you got to -- what am I, 19th or something I think I saw in there? You got to stay close and then you just never know. So that was important at the end there. I wanted to -- didn't want to lose to the golf course today.
Felt like I beat it the way I played. It was a really nice putt to hole. What I've learned the last ten years is a lot -- anything can happen. You just have to be staying within reach. Tomorrow will be an important day to get into the red numbers, but the way this course is going and with this east wind, this dry wind, I mean, the ninth green I could name six or so putts where it was like, man, this is going to be get a little dicey on Sunday, by Saturday, Sunday.
So having said that, if someone shoots 16-under they're going to win. But I think you hang in there and just shoot three red numbers and make a little charge you got a chance still, even if you shot even today.
Q. How often do you think of 2016 and are there lessons learned from that?
JORDAN SPIETH: As often as I think of losses, wins, anything, yeah, it's up there with memorable tournaments for me, good and bad.
Yeah, not much. I was super resilient. I remember that from there. You want to play it left of the hole. I hit a bad shot on 12, but I bogeyed 10 and 11. I had super good control on 10 and just missed them right three holes in a row.
And then I started to come back and gave it a good chance. To my point, I feel like between there, 2018, some of the other runs I've had on Sunday, you can turn those holes into red and make up a lot of the ground on people as I've done.
It's certainly gone both ways for me here, so stay within arm's reach and try to make it go my way.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports