Q. 5-under in your last six, two eagles on that stretch. How good does it feel to put on a show like that down the stretch?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, it was cool. You know there's looks coming in on this golf course, and you just have to put the ball in the fairway really because from the fairway every hole is very much birdieable out here. But when you're not, you have -- the pins are in these corners where you actually can't get it close, and that's what I ran into yesterday; I had a lot of 40-, 50-footers, and today I had a lot more looks.
It felt really good. I had two 5-irons that I put really nice swings on into the par-5s. It was good to have good numbers. Fortunate for both of them to feed the right distance to have good looks.
A bit of fortune in there, but I did the right things in order to put myself in position to make an easy 4, and the threes were bonuses.
Q. You're second today in strokes gained approach. Is there anything with your iron play this week that you feel has been better than last week or that you worked on --
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, look, the things I'm trying to do in the structure of the swing, it's a lot easier to do on a mat at home, and I was doing them well there, and then you start to get to playing, and it's quite a bit more challenging.
Last week I had the first nine holes I played, I felt like I did a good job with it, and then I fell off for two and a half rounds, and then Sunday I finally got out there and I said I'm going to push it as hard as I can on what I'm trying to do, and it led to really good ball-striking.
There's some shots here or there that I'll hit that give me a ton of confidence, and I had a couple of them on Sunday last week that I was like, pretty optimistic about getting three more days of work in, pressing on it, and I thought that it would come through this week.
Then I just needed to play in some warmth. My wrist is not as good in the cold as it is in the warm right now, and that's just a fact. I think it still needs a couple months, really, to kind of loosen up and break through the -- kind of mold some of the scarring.
But yeah, I was telling Michael each hole, hey, I hit that pocket or I didn't. I hit some good shots where I didn't, but every one that did was solid.
Q. Josh Allen has spoke of inspiration from you and working through struggles and just being positive and confident that things are going to turn around. What does it mean for the NFL MVP to take inspiration from your story?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I've played some holes with him a couple years ago in a practice round at Pebble, so I got to play Pebble Beach with Josh so that's a pretty -- he's my favorite player. Maybe in any sport right now, but definitely my favorite football player. He's just a great dude. So that obviously means a lot.
But I wish he was playing on Sunday. I know he does, too.
Q. What makes him your favorite football player?
JORDAN SPIETH: I love the way he talks about his team. I love how he fights. I think he's obviously an incredible quarterback. But he's a good dude, too. It's one of those, like, you meet guys and you never know and you meet him and he's even better than -- he's just a better dude than I would have thought.
Yeah, how can you not like watching him play? How about that lateral this year? It just looks like he's out there playing backyard football with his buddies, and that's how we should try to feel if we can, and he makes it look pretty easy.
Q. Same putter today as yesterday?
JORDAN SPIETH: That was the same one as yesterday, yeah. Don't know what I'll do tomorrow yet.
Q. I know you said yesterday that you didn't have a lot of expectations coming back, but second-to-last group now, being in the mix when it's rocking here over the weekend, what's that going to be like?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I'll be honest, I really -- if you told me that I'd be here right now two weeks ago, I'd say that's impressive; let's do it on Sunday. I'm going to need to play -- continue to play consistent golf.
The way I played today is good enough to get the job done. I really should have made quite a few more putts, and a round like today was easier -- I think I hit somewhere in the 16 to 17 greens range. It's all about putting the ball on the putting surface and my speed control has been really solid. Just need to capitalize more.
But yeah, I wouldn't say I'm surprised, but my expectations were more just let's get into things and try to shoot a few under each round, so I need to stay on that goal because it's been working.
Q. What's the thought process especially on the weekend when you get into that closing stretch here?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, it's crazy. Here four shots can be made up in four holes. It's also hard to make up shots if somebody is on their game because look at what Nick did last year. Charley came through, I was playing with Charley, he posted an unbelievable score and then Nick came through and somehow won the golf tournament.
When someone is on, they're on, but you can also have some bad breaks. Rickie has had it. Hideki has had it here where he hit some great shots that don't end up in the perfect spots. Tomorrow the pins will be a little harder in the closing stretch than they were today.
15 and 17 I think will be quite a bit harder. It might not yield 5-under in the last six. But it's all about just controlling emotions, giving yourself looks.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports