BRITISH OPEN
Jordan Spieth saw his 50-foot eagle putt that gave him the lead for good at Royal Birkdale differently than anyone watching on television or anyone else.
“I knew it was going to bend a little bit to the right as it went down off the slope to the bunker,” he said. “And then when it gets to the valley, the hole is on a 3-degree slope going the other way, into and off the right. So it’s going to be a downhill leftto-right, and then it double breaks into uphill right-toleft.” Got that? “Go get that,” he told caddie Michael Greller after making the putt .
“I like those putts,” he said. “They become total feel. That’s what I needed at that point in time, to get the technicality out of it.”
The finish is famous. Overlooked was a shot in the second round that Spieth felt kept him from a minimeltdown. Right when the rain started pounding, Spieth drove into a pot bunker on No. 10, punched out and then hit his third shot long and to the right. Facing bogey or worse, he chipped in for par.
“I hit a beautiful chip that went in that kept momentum going in the worst of the weather that we experienced that week,” Spieth said. “That chip shot was massive at that point because I was faltering. I could have made bogey or double easy.” at Quail Hollow. He went with 7-iron . “I know it’s not what I would usually hit,” Thomas said. “But it was a situation where I did not want to ease off something. My adrenaline was going so much, I was hitting it well and I could turn it toward the pin. I made a perfect swing.”
The ball landed on the front of the green and set up a birdie putt that sent him to the final hole with a three-shot lead.
Much like Spieth, however, Thomas recalled a short-game shot earlier in the tournament that could have turned his fortunes. It was Thursday morning. He started on the back nine and was 2 over with three holes left, starting with the par-5 seventh. That’s a birdie hole if he can get it into the fairway. He hit into the water and made bogey.
Then, he flew the green on No. 8, and suddenly an opening-round 75 was a real possibility.
“I could not have been in a worse place,” Thomas said. “I was 7 yards over the green on a down slope. And now I have a chip that I have to get up-and-down or I’m 4 over and it just changes everything. Now I go into Friday grinding to make the cut.
“I hit one of the most ridiculous flop shots I’ve ever hit.”
He birdied the ninth for a 73, shot 66 the next day and was on his way.