THE JORDAN RULES
kind of shot was necessary because Spieth’s normally reliable putter was taunting and tormenting him all day.
While he led after every round and opened with two birdies yesterday, the rest of his final-round 70 was an even-par battle against himself more than with Berger or his playing partner, Boo Weekley.
“It was tough,’’ said Spieth. “I give a lot of credit to Michael. I thought this was his most impressive performance he’s ever had. I mean this whole week I haven’t felt comfortable on the greens. I was competing but I was getting frustrated. I felt so uneasy on the greens. I voiced that. Even when I made some putts they didn’t necessarily feel like great putts. It wasn’t a normal kind of Jordan putting week.
“Michael kept me grounded. He said we’re not letting this one slip away. We’re going to finish like we have the last couple days. He reiterated that in different ways throughout the back nine, which was very important.’’
It was especially important after Spieth bogeyed both 12 and 14 and barely avoided ending up driving his ball into the water on 13 and 15. As his frustrations mounted and his putter refused to help, he finally stared at his club face on 14 and hollered at it, “What are you doing?”
A good question to which Greller had only one good answer.
After Spieth missed a 4-foot par putt on 14 that cut his lead to a stroke with Berger closing in on him, the wheels appeared to be coming off. When his drive on 15 turned way left and only avoided water because of deep rough that slowed the ball’s roll a foot from the red out of bounds line, he nearly slammed his driver into the ground.
It was at that juncture, with Spieth’s bile rising, that Greller reminded him what was happening. What was happening was, difficult though it was for Spieth to see at that moment, exactly what was supposed to happen if you want to be where Spieth wants to be.
“My biggest role is getting him to believe in himself,” said Greller, a former sixthgrade math teacher. “I was trying to make him feel as confident as I could. He was fighting his putter all week. I had to keep remembering to breathe, too, and then remind him, ‘This is why you play golf. To be in the moment like this.’
“That can be stressful but you’d rather have that than be grinding to make the cut. I reminded him he’s a closer. That’s what I kept telling him.’’
Michael Greller kept reminding Jordan Spieth of that until Spieth stepped into a bunker 61 feet from the hole with a trophy and $1.2 million on the line and reminded himself and the rest of the golf world that his caddie had a point.