ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL

March 7, 2021

Jordan Spieth

Bay Hill Club and Lodge

Quick Quotes

Q. How would you assess the day?

JORDAN SPIETH: I thought I played really well. I thought I played a really solid round of golf. I trusted a lot of tough shots, hit a lot of good ones. Hit my lines on just about every putt and just nothing went in. And then finishing 5, 5, 4, 5, just, that stings. I mean, you got to be, you probably got to shoot even or under par on those last four to have a chance from the position I was in and I gave myself enough opportunities to do so and I didn't do anything wrong.

I mean I'm very happy with the way that I played the round today, knowing going out it was going to be really challenging, and it just wasn't my day. I mean, I hit right lip, left lip, high lip, low lip. I mean it was -- greens got super crusty and it was just, I mean the couple that I made I thought I missed and the ones I thought I made I missed. It was weird.

Q. Was this Sunday a little different than the past Sundays at Waste Management, Pebble, Genesis because of how difficult the course was playing?

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, it's definitely -- and I really, I thought I played better today than I did any of those Sundays as well. At the beginning of the day you told me I was going to be even through 10 and be in, hit driver in the middle of the fairway on 11 and on 12, I would have thought I was going to win the golf tournament.

Again, I put the ball exactly where I wanted to on just about every single shot and putt and it came out to 75 somehow. But that's not going to happen every time, if I do, if I play the way I did today. It's going to be really good going forward.

Q. Were the two par-5s on the back not making birdie on those, was that kind of crucial moments on the back nine?

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, of course. And 12, I hit into the lip of the bunker, if it carries another yard it's a much easier bunker shot. Still hit a good shot and lipped out. 16 I had wedge in and made par. I mean the ball just, it just doesn't stop rolling on these greens here. And I was left with a number where I had to take some off and if you're not able to kind of throw it really high and spin it with a full shot, you're not going to be able to feed it into any of the holes.

I ended up in a really tough spot to have to putt from along a crown. I hit it and I ended up 3-putting for par there obviously at a crucial moment.

So I wouldn't have changed anything that I did, I mean I made the right decisions, made the right swings, hit the putts where I wanted to, and again, typically when I do that it turns out well. It was just one of those days where I'm not going to look back on this Sunday versus any of the previous three on the West Coast. I mean this was, I played a lot better golf today, even though the score doesn't show that.

Q. Sound like you're taking a lot of positives out of this week.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I mean currently finishing 5, 5, 4, 5, I kind of want to go break something, but I'll look back very positively at the way that my attitude today, the way I was walking, the confidence that I took into every single shot, again, that's going to serve me well going forward. I made a step in the right direction today, regardless of the result.