Don’t get Spieth (67) angry
Jordan Spieth followed up an even-par opening round by double-bogeying his first hole on Friday – No. 10 — at Bethpage Black. And he was not happy. Suddenly at 2-over par, the two-time majors champion lingered around the cut line at The Barclays for nearly half of his second round.
But Spieth then finished with a flourish after the turn — highlighted by an eagle on No. 4 on his way to a 4-under 67 — to vault himself back into contention entering the final two days of the tournament.
“Yeah, it’s moments like the 11th tee box where I really credit (caddy) Michael (Greller) a lot for stepping in there and
being a real positive voice, saying, ‘You got really screwed on that shot. You did exactly what we wanted to do on the second shot on 10. Let’s find the fairway here, get into rhythm and pretend that didn’t happen,’” said Spieth, who missed the cut at The Barclays last year at Plainfield.
Spieth burst onto the PGA scene with wins at the Masters and the U.S. Open in 2015 – as well as taking the FedEx Cup championship — to push his earnings to a record $23 million for the year.
But 2016 hasn’t been as fortuitous for the 23-year-old Texan, who coughed up a five-stroke lead on the back nine at Augusta in April, losing the Green Jacket to Danny Willett. He also finished outside the top-10 at the other three majors.
Spieth, who still ranks third in the World Golf Rankings, used words like “frustrated” and “angry” to describe his demeanor after carding a six on his opening hole on Friday.
“Just the level of anger I got to where I want to just throw the club in the bag, you know what I mean, that’s normal out here,” Spieth said. “And it’s probably normal with you guys when you’re on the golf course, too.”
On his second shot on the par-5 fourth hole, however, Spieth drilled a 6-iron to within two feet of the cup before finishing off his eagle putt.
“I knew I needed all of it and I smashed it,” he said. “We started getting some momentum. Obviously the eagle jumps you up there a bit. I got it to 4-under there (with a second straight birdie) on the seventh hole after a good tee shot … And it was nice to finish those last two with pars.”