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NORTHERN TRUST OPEN


February 22, 2015


Jordan Spieth


PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA

Q.  Thoughts on the day?
JORDAN SPIETH:  Yeah, it was good.  It was a good week.  I knew today I wasn't going to need to shoot that many under par.  I just needed to limit the mistakes.  And to have a double there and a bogey at the last, does sting a little there, because I know 6‑under still has a chance to win but I figured it had to be 7, so thought I had to go for that chip.
Like the way that I closed, though.  I like the way I played the back nine.  That was a very difficult nine into the wind, when you turn there on 12, and then started to rain a lot.
So, you know, it was a battle today.  A couple missed short putts which I didn't have all week.  But that's going to happen out here.  It's tough to putt poa annua.

Q.  So you didn't know where you stood going to 18?
JORDAN SPIETH:  On 18 I knew I needed a birdie.  I thought the lead was at 7 and there was two leaders.  I wasn't firing at the flag.  I was firing out to give myself 15 feet right.  I hit it just a touch fat, so it turned the face over.  If I struck it well, it would have been out there about 20 feet to the right and I would have had a putt straight up the hill to tie.  That was the game plan.  You don't want to miss it left there, ever, but it was just a bad strike.

Q.  Aggressive with the third shot?
JORDAN SPIETH:  Yeah, you know, but where I left it wasn't that bad.  I mean, I thought it would check up a little more.  It came out a little lower than I wanted, but all in all, I hit a great pitch on the hole before.  I had good vibes on it.  I struck it nicely and thought it had a good chance to go in until that last foot or so and it dove off.

Q.  There's one definite birdie hole on this golf course and you parred‑‑ how did that make you feel?
JORDAN SPIETH:  That was tough.  I had 6‑iron or 7‑iron in every day from the fairway.  I was right at the edge of the fairway every day.  You'd like to play that hole at least 4‑under, if that's the case. 
       Today I just tugged a 6‑iron a little bit, so it went to the back of the green.  You just can't miss left there.  It's just like 18.  To today's pin, if you hit it anywhere right, it's an easy up‑and‑down or it's an easy 2‑putt.  Just for whatever reason, it just tugged on me a little on the first hole, and I hit a great first putt and I hit a second putt where I wanted it.  It just barely missed.  The 4‑putt on 4 didn't help me.
I also had hybrid into 11 today, the par5.  I hit a great drive, had hybrid in, a standard little high, straight shot that if I hit it anywhere left, I'm in great shape and most likely a birdie.  I just tried to bleed it to the hole and bled it too much and ended up with a par.
Dumb mistakes.  I guess it's early in the year.  Maybe that's it.  This is my first time really having a chance to win the tournament since December, so I'll learn from those, just that little bit of extra patience that I needed to have, not having to hit a perfect shot.  That's what made the difference.

Q.  Big picture, just with the West Coast Swing and your performance this week, how do you feel the state of your game is?
JORDAN SPIETH:  I feel good.  I didn't strike the ball well last week.  Struck it well the first two days here, and yesterday and today, struck it poorly again.  But it's getting close.  Phoenix, I hit the ball a little better.  Just didn't really make anything and I putted pretty well these last couple weeks.
It's really close to all firing.  I'll have a good week off and then maybe take a couple days off here, and then regroup, get ready for Miami.  I'm going to head to Augusta before Miami, so that might be some good prep there.
Yeah, to get three Top‑10s out of the first four events is nice.  I'd like to have a little closer chance, maybe a putt to win or something coming up soon, rather than trying to chase the last few holes from behind.

Q.  What was it like, you played with two obviously Major winners, both were in the hunt today.  Did you gain anything from that or learn anything from that?
JORDAN SPIETH:  Yeah, I mean, I played with Angel quite a few times.  I never played with Vijay.  And Angel gets off to a great start, birdies the first three.  And Vijay kind of just plods his way around.  He's just making his 4‑footers for par and all of a sudden he's 3‑under and tied for the lead at one point or one back.
Yeah, they were both very composed, more so than myself still at this point.  They have been in bigger situations and succeeded and have more experience.  So it's nice to be able to see how they reacted to when things didn't quite go their way and rebounded from mistakes.
So certainly always something to learn from major champions, one of them a former world No. 1.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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