SPIETH IN STRIKING DISTANCE
TRAILS LEADERS BY 2 AS MASTERS SET FOR WILD FINAL ROUND: CANNIZZARO, WILLIS
AUGUSTA, Ga. — He’s baaaaack. Jordan Spieth and Augusta National are a couple. Again.
For the fourth consecutive year, Spieth enters the final round of the Masters with a real chance to win, after shooting a 4under 68 on Saturday to position himself just two shots behind leaders Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia, who are 6-under.
Rose’s 67 was the low round of the day. Garcia shot 70 and Rickie Fowler (5-under) shot 71.
For Spieth, who already owns one Green Jacket and has two runner-up finishes in his three Masters appearances entering this week, this is familiar territory, being in contention, but unfamiliar territory in terms of position.
“It’s a new experience for me, coming from behind on Sunday at the Masters, which is kind of fun to say,’’ Spieth said. “We have a great history here. [Sunday] might free me up a bit, being behind.’’
A Spieth mantra this week has been, “What would Arnie do,’’ in reference to the go-for-broke nature of Arnold Palmer, whose death last year has left this Masters without his physical presence for the first time since 1954.
“I plan to play aggressive, because at this point it’s win or go home,’’ Spieth said. “You pull off the shots and you make the putts. I want to give myself a chance for that to be enough. Finishing fifth versus 10th doesn’t mean much to me, so that frees me up a bit.’’
This has been a week of remarkable resilience from Spieth, who shot 74 in Thursday’s opening round thanks to a sloppy quadruple-bogey 9 on the 15th hole, and was 10 shots out of the lead entering Friday’s second round.
He shot a 3-under 69 Friday to climb back to even-par and four shots off the lead entering Saturday’s third round.
“After the first round, I couldn’t ask for much better than this,’’ Spieth said. “I fought back tremendously to have a chance to win this golf tournament, and no matter what happens at the end, we will have a chance to win with a really good round [Sunday].’’
He called Friday’s round, played in difficult, blustery conditions, “bigger’’ than Saturday’s round “because it gave me that chance.’’
“I went to bed with my heart pumping faster [Friday] night because of that round than I probably will [Saturday] night, because I knew I had a chance,’’ he said. “Now obviously we just need one more day of it and probably a couple breaks to go our way.’’
Ayear ago, Spieth famously spit up a fiveshot lead with nine holes to play in the final round to lose to Danny Willett. The linchpin to the dramatic loss was the quadruplebogey 7 he took on the par-3 12th hole, where he hit two balls into Rae’s Creek. The lesson learned? “I know that anything can happen,’’ Spieth said with a smile. “It’s tough protecting a lead on this golf course, because it’s one where you need to play aggressive to win. And protecting the lead, you don’t want to play aggressive. So … if I am able to jump out into the lead, I know that you have to keep the gas pedal down and pretend you’re not [in the lead].’’
As resilient as Spieth has been this week, patiently climbing back into contention after the poor start, he said, “It’s hard to be more resilient than we were last year after No. 12. That was, by far, the most resilient I’ve ever been on a golf course in my life.’’
Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad goes back to junior golf with Spieth and expressed no surprise his friend has vaulted himself into contention once again.
“Jordan’s been the best putter I’ve ever seen for 10 years and it hasn’t really changed,’’ Hagestad said. “His short game gets better under pressure. He starts hitting better golf shots in the clutch. I think he has a lot of confidence here and he’s very, very comfortable. What happened last year was one thing, but I mean the guy still went and birdied 13 and 15 to give himself a chance. That gets overlooked.
“So I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see him there [Sunday] afternoon. He’s ranked top five in the world for a reason. He’s a total stud and I think this place really sets up for him nicely.’’