Q. The adjustment to hitting your putts harder, what is that adjustment?
JORDAN SPIETH: Just swing speed.
Q. Hit 'em a little harder?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah. I didn't put any lead tape or anything like that. Most of the times I left it short it was I'm 40-plus feet, and you're putting downhill and it looks like you're putting into the ocean behind. That's always going to be hard to get it there. I've had a lot of two and a half to 5-footers this week, and they have been really solid for me. I missed one today, but I've just had to hit those as second putts a lot, just from leaving it short. But a lot of that has to do with proximity on the second shots.
Q. You said you were playing even better Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. How good did you feel going into this week?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I was, I did a lot of putting work with Cameron. We've put in a lot of work in the time that I've been able to, just balancing a lot this fall. Post Ryder Cup, I tried to eye Tiger's event as a chance to really get things, maybe December 1st, where I felt really good about starting a season, and then from there, then have through the holidays to fine tune. Tiger's event was big for me, just to get out there and get into contention. Then come here and kind of pick up where I left off there is really nice. We'll just have to see the conditions tomorrow, and I just assume I have to shoot 6-under plus or you finish top 25, and it's just crazy how the scoring is.
Q. How is the wrist?
JORDAN SPIETH: It's good. I'm getting some good work here. It's not so much the wrist, it's kind of up in the arm and managing that. The wrist was kind of just what took the fall from some ulnar nerve stuff. I've been on top of it, I've been going to physical therapy two, three, four times a week at home, depending upon the week, doing my exercises, and just trying to line things up to where I don't ever have any more issues.
Q. Does it affect you at all while you play?
JORDAN SPIETH: I haven't thought about it at all this week.
Q. Is that the first time in a while?
JORDAN SPIETH: Tiger's event was really good. So, yeah, I mean, I would say from December on it's been really solid, I've been on the right path.
Q. Do you enjoy playing in these type of conditions, it was a little harder and windier today?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I think so. Honestly, it's just more fun. You have to play more shots. The holes show a little teeth. You can run out 400 yards through fairways, so you got to kind of like you still hit driver, but you got to hit a different shot to make it go shorter. It's very odd, it's an odd scenario, one that you really only experience here. But it's not worth hitting 3-wood because then if that spins you got 90 yards further in. It's kind of fun to just play this kind of golf. It's not always maybe the best gauge, I feel like here. Some guys probably are on top of their game, and they just don't quite make enough birdies or get the right breaks here. Some guys are scoring really well, but have a lot of work to do. Sometimes Kapalua can kind of be that way, at least for a few rounds, but typically over the course of an entire tournament it starts to show itself.
Q. Is that tough, given this is your best on the score, especially given --
JORDAN SPIETH: I mean, in general, it is tough because that's what everything else is judged by. But I've learned over the years that if I feel like I'm making progress and things feel good that it doesn't need to be near term success via scoring that it will end up coming with it. If you hit ball where you're looking two times in a row, and then you hit a putt where you're looking, most of the time it's going to work out for you. It's more trying to focus on it that way, versus I'm sure there's guys who shot 4-under and felt like they played great and guys who shot 6 and maybe felt a little off, like myself. That's not always fair, but that's the game. That's how it works out over the course of seven months.
Q. Golf wise, what's the best part of being 21?
JORDAN SPIETH: About being 21? All you got to do is golf. That's all you're doing. Akshay, he's engaged and obviously he has that part of it, but -- you have a life, but you get to do whatever you want all the time. That doesn't happen after 21.
Q. This course has wild runs on the back nine. What do you do when you're in the middle of it?
JORDAN SPIETH: I would say I haven't been on this course since 2017 in the throes of it here, but certainly just watching it, yeah, you're eyeing these holes, and you know that you should have a good look on 10. You know you should have a pretty good look on 12. You're trying to get kind of one or two before 14 on the back nine. Then all of a sudden it's a sprint and you see who makes four out of the last five. That seems to be the case and it probably will be the case tomorrow.
Q. Was that your first time playing with him and just impressions of what you saw?
JORDAN SPIETH: I think we have played once or a practice round or something. I thought it was extremely impressive today. I was very impressed. Just the way he flighted the ball, different shot shaping, playing the ball on the ground, playing it up in the air, couple of the short game shots. Really the way he putted, I mean, he had to have gained four or five on the greens today, and the ones that didn't go in looked like they were going in. 18 was the only mishap. The rest of the day he rolled his rock. So, all in all, it was, tee to green, and on the greens very, very impressive and if he plays like that starting one back, I'll have to do something special.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports