|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 2, 2013Jordan SpiethNORTON, MASSACHUSETTS Q. Is that the best you've ever played on the PGA Tour? JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, definitely. It was actually a rough range session this morning. Went to the first hole, just wanted to stay smooth. Honestly we were just all praying to get our round in. Obviously very excited with the finish, being able to close it out with two birdies and an eagle. Even happier to be done and sit back and see how things unfold. Q. A lot of people mentioned your name as far as a captain's pick. This is the last day to impress the captain? JORDAN SPIETH: You know, there's just so many great players that are ahead of me in the standings. It's going to be a tough decision for Freddie. Whether I'm picked or not I'll be rooting hard for the American team, wanting them to win. I think it would be an unbelievable opportunity for me. And we'll just have to see what happens. Q. What a difference a day makes. The putter didn't cooperate yesterday, and it did in a big way today, 62, 9‑under par? JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, it was the round of my life so far. It really was. Being able to break‑‑ I shot a few 65s this year, and to be able to break the barrier, and be under par and keep it going, you know, it was a lot of fun. It was great to be playing alongside Phil and Harry, both, you can't really play with two better guys. We were having fun out there. We were flying, which is great. Those are the kind of days I like. And just happy to get it in and pleased with the score. Q. Not a bad finish, either, birdie, birdie, birdie, eagle? JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah. I don't think that's ever happened to me. I didn't know what I was at. On 18 tee box I had no idea if I was 4‑, 5‑, 6‑ or 7‑under for the day. All I was thinking about was hitting it over the bunker and getting it on the green. And that was kind of in the zone. That's what we strive for every round and it comes once in a while. And I'm happy with it. Q. What would it mean to you to be the captain's pick? JORDAN SPIETH: It would be the greatest honor I've ever had as a golfer. Like I said earlier, there's just so many great players that are ahead of me in the standings, and in consideration, either way I'm very patriotic, I love rooting for the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams, so I'll pull hard either way. But it would definitely be a tremendous honor to make the squad. Q. Jordan, tremendous round out there, great finish. Can we get some comments? JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I said it earlier, it was actually a rough range session. I couldn't really find anything from a mid‑iron on. I've been working on some things in my swing this week. In a four week stretch I've had three, four week stretches each year, and each time the third and fourth week something gets a little off in my swing. I texted briefly early in the week with my instructor and sent a couple of videos to him just to have a quick kind of look at them. And it just went from there. I just tried to feel it out. Luckily my driver was on this week. Today I just wanted to hit a lot of the greens. My goal before the round was to have a bogey‑free round. To try to play stress‑free. And for the most part that's what it was. I had one three‑putt, but other than that, the putts were falling early. And I've never finished birdie, birdie, birdie, eagle before. And to see the putt track on 18, and with four feet to go I knew it. It's a great feeling. It ties my lowest I've ever shot in a tournament. It's definitely the best round I've ever played in my life. Q. Except for trying to win the tournament at the start of the week, did you see this as a last chance to audition for Fred? JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I think so. I know that they're scoreboard watching up until the last minute. I don't know what he's thinking. I haven't reached out to Freddie. I think that it's going to be a really tough decision. And I think that he's got the right voices helping him out. I just ‑‑ it in my mind the only way to make a statement was play great golf the last few weeks. And I feel really solid about today's round, going forward into the next event. And whatever happens on Wednesday, happens on Wednesday, but I'm just‑‑ I'm very, very happy with today and that's kind of what's on my mind right now. Q. How much has The Presidents Cup been on your mind? JORDAN SPIETH: It's just ‑‑ at the beginning of the year I would have been happy with playing in the Web.com playoffs, right now. I'm trying to earn my PGA Tour card. One of my goals has been exceeded so I'm going to be just fine either way. It would be a dream come true for me. You guys know the players. You have done the research, you know who's up there, 11, 12, 13 on the list. And those guys are pretty stout. I don't have any expectations, whatsoever. It's been on my mind a little bit. But I just want to play really hard. Q. You've talked about having to readjust your goals. Do you now have to put winning the FedExCup, is that there for you? JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, it's obviously a goal. It's, I think, for anybody, it's a top goal. It's a farfetched goal of mine. I don't know where I'll be projected after this week. Maybe move up a little bit, probably back where I started, around 8th or 7th. And I just really want to be in the top five to get in The TOUR Championship. From there, 30 players, and‑‑ in my mind it's a little easier to beat 30 guys rather than 130 guys. Obviously they're the 30 hottest players at the time. So that would definitely be a goal. Q. Do you have to stop and think that there are only (inaudible.) JORDAN SPIETH: No, I want to get out and practice every day. I'm working hard on my game. And playing with these guys out here. I just think of them as my peers, ask that's how I think I should. I start thinking anything else, it maybe adds more pressure. But I was just really excited to play it with Harry and Phil for the first time. Harry, again, being a Walker Cup teammate of mine, just coming up here next weekend. I had a level of comfort there. Q. (Inaudible.) JORDAN SPIETH: No, we really didn't talk much about it. I think‑‑ obviously to play alongside Phil on one of these events is fantastic. And whatever happens, happens. We really weren't focused on anything else at all. Q. I think there was thunder on all three of your last holes. So you know you're kind of trying to out run the weather. How are you able to finish birdie, birdie, eagle with that? JORDAN SPIETH: Honestly playing a quicker pace plays into my favor, I think. I enjoy playing fast and being the first off was the best scenario that we could possibly have had. The thunder didn't really affect what we were doing. But the PGA Tour officials are very good at making sure nobody is in the middle of their swing. So that wasn't on my mind at all. I just wanted to play smart shots. And I ended up making a couple of bombs on 15 and 16 there. And had a short one on 17 and an eagle on 18. 15 and 16 were just really cool because I didn't necessarily expect them. Q. (Inaudible.) JORDAN SPIETH: That's tough. I think that I've played really good golf compared to what‑‑ really playing good enough golf is kind of a relative term. That's kind of a term I would set on myself, does that make sense? I'm doing the right things. I'm accomplishing what I want to accomplish at the start of each round. And whether that's as good or good enough for his choice is just his decision. It's not my call. I feel very confident with where my golf game is at. I love the format and I've always loved watching all Presidents Cups and Ryder Cup teams. It's my favorite event to watch; that and the Masters. Yeah, it would be a dream come true, but I don't want to necessarily‑‑ it's up to him if I've played low enough. And it's going to be a tough call. Q. (Inaudible.) JORDAN SPIETH: A little bit of both. He's just a really nice guy. He just asked how is it going, all that kind of stuff, congratulate me on the year. I was doing the same for him. Yeah, I see him almost every week now. So we've exchanged words in the locker room and stuff. It was a little bit of both. I can't even tell you exactly what we were talking about. I would say it was equal me asking him. Q. So you are partnering with him against who? The next practice round? JORDAN SPIETH: Oh, I don't know yet. We don't know if Phil's‑‑ I'm not sure if Phil is going in there. He has other obligations. I'm going to be in Chicago next Monday afternoon. And I'll get my rounds in. Hopefully I can play a practice round with him and see what happens. Q. What's your plan for the rest of your day, knowing how uncertain it is? JORDAN SPIETH: Well, my little brother is starting up at Brown here. He's a freshman, starting at Brown in Providence. My whole family is here. We're meeting him at school. We'll probably find him to grab something to eat and hang out before we kind of wish him off. So it might be rough on my mom and sister‑‑ more for my dad and mom. So I'll go hang with my family, keep an eye on what's going on. And hopefully everybody can get in today. I know everybody wants it to finish today, if we can find a break in the weather. As long as the round isn't canceled, I'll be happy. Q. (Inaudible.) JORDAN SPIETH: He's playing basketball. He likes the coach a lot. They've got six freshmen coming in. Q. What did you learn that year at Texas that's helped you out here? Could you have had this year without having that college year? JORDAN SPIETH: No, no. University of Texas a hundred percent prepared me for this. Even though it was only a year, I think the main thing I got out of it was time management. On the course we played against better competition than junior golf. And we played some of the best golf courses in the United States, some of the best golf courses in the country set up in PGA condition. We got to see that, which was very beneficial. All in all, I think it was time management, learning how to practice a little better than I did when I was a junior. I had more time each day to spend on the golf course or spend working out or whatnot. I still have a lot to learn. But it definitely was a big help. Q. I think you're the first guy since Tiger to start at zero status and get to The TOUR Championship, have you thought about that? JORDAN SPIETH: It's great. You want to be in that top‑30 at the end of each year. That's going to be my goal for years and years to come. It's been, like I said before, it's been above and beyond what I could have imagined this year. But at the same time when I was on the course I had the confidence I guess to get out there and shoot a round like today. And even today I was a little upset at times. I set very high expectations for myself on the course and it's going to be pretty awesome these last few events. Q. How long ago does second stage seem? JORDAN SPIETH: Years. Seems like years ago, it really does. Yeah, I was at home, I actually played at Craig Ranch. It was a pretty rough ending, because I knew I was going to be turning pro, so at the time it was actually a little depressing. But I got over it pretty quickly. Q. When did you start thinking about The Presidents Cup? JORDAN SPIETH: I guess probably more at the Wyndham, I would say, just because I think it shot me up in the FedExCup a lot more. I thought a win there would have helped me a lot. Yeah, I think maybe then I started to have thoughts. But, again, it's weird for me to think about it. And I really hadn't thought about it too much. Just because at the end of the year I never really‑‑ I didn't even know where it was this year at the beginning of the year. I played Muirfield this year. I guess to answer your question, it was probably around then, that it came on to my mind. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|