The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Spieth walks down memory lane
Every time he walks up the 18th hole at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell during a practice round, Jordan Spieth heads over to the right front bunker to recreate the shot.
For those who follow the Travelers Championship or PGA Tour golf in general, you know the shot Spieth is referring to. Just in case you don’t: Spieth holed out from that bunker for birdie to win the 2017 Travelers Championship in a sudden-death playoff.
It is arguably the greatest shot in the tournament’s long history.
“It’s nice to go back to places where you have really good memories to draw back on, hit a lot of good shots, and obviously a place that you win is always nice coming up the 18th hole and remembering the shot to win in the playoff,” Spieth said. “That was the coolest shot I’ve ever hit in a PGA Tour event, so I played it today. I always just go right back in the bunker and try it every time I’m there.”
Spieth, 26, didn’t make the shot on Tuesday morning. But he made it when it counted, which will be exactly three years to the day on Thursday. A hole out, a club toss and a chest bump with caddie Michael Greller, all with the crowd
at 18 going absolutely bonkers. Then Spieth withstood Daniel Berger’s birdie attempt to continue celebrating his 10th PGA Tour victory.
“Yeah, I mean, it never gets old. I have not gotten tired of watching that video,” Spieth said. “What an amphitheater setting on that 18th hole. I couldn’t have imagined something like that anywhere else. It was electric to say the least. I went over to Daniel before he went to his playoff at Colonial (two tournaments ago) and said, ‘Don’t worry, Berger, it’s not me, you’ll be fine,’ just as a joke, and he just kind of laughed and certainly got his own back in that scenario, when he was able to win in a playoff there.”
Spieth went on to win the Open Championship the following month, his third major championship. He stood second in the world rankings. He once was the world’s No. 1 player.
Spieth hasn’t won since. He has now plummeted to 55th in the rankings as he gets ready for his openinground pairings at 12:40 p.m. with Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa off the first tee.
Spieth has three top-10 finishes this season on tour, including a tie for 10th place at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
“I’m just trying to progress my swing along. It continues to feel better each week,” Spieth said. “It’s in a position where I think I can win with it. And then just dialing in the control on and around the greens, which is normally not as much of a problem for me, as we adjust back to a lot faster-paced greens here and a different type of grass.”
Spieth said at the Charles Schwab that he would play “five of the first six” events after the tour returned to action after the threemonth hiatus. The fields have been stacked like this week’s is. Nine of the world’s top 10 players are competing.
As far as the COVID-19 pandemic goes, Spieth said there was a call with tour players on Monday. All of the players and caddies were tested again upon arriving in Connecticut.
Last Friday, Nick Watney became the tour’s first player to test positive for the Coronavirus.
“I think with Nick, the fact that there were no other positive tests was huge, clearly,” Spieth said. “But the idea that the systems in place allowed for him to test negative on a Tuesday, somehow contract the virus by Friday but not spread it to anyone including the people he’s staying with means that there was something done right with what was in force at the golf course and how Nick was approaching it, as well. And I know he was one of the safest individuals from day one, so it’s kind of unfortunate that it happened to be him.”
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no fans in attendance this week. So no crowds at 18 if there is another exciting finish. Spieth said “it felt like I was playing Thursday’s round” when he was in contention over the weekend at the Charles Schwab because there were no crowd roars.
“When I got onto the 15th tee here today, I could see the clubhouse. I can’t remember ever seeing the clubhouse, and you’re normally used to seeing thousands and thousands of fans, too. So it just visually has a very different look for it,” Spieth said.
Spieth will take another spectacular ending even without the fans or the roars.