Spieth’s plan: Stay away from cliff ’s edge
PEBBLE BEACH — Don’t expect Jordan Spieth to hit a shot from the cliff’s edge this week.
That was the enduring image of his second-place finish in last year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am — the blimp showing his golf ball perilously close to the steep drop-off on No. 8, then Spieth deciding to smack it anyway before quickly backpedaling to solid ground.
He saved par, yes, but to some extent, he also risked tumbling 68 feet to the rocky beach below. The next day, Spieth said he regretted not taking a one-shot penalty and moving his ball to safety.
“I think I saved a stroke,” Spieth said Wednesday. “Does the reward outweigh the risk? Not if you think the risk was dying.”
Spieth played Pebble in November with his brother and dad, giving him another chance to walk along the right side of the No. 8 fairway (this time, not too close to the edge). He and other players probably won’t have to make any similarly heavy decisions this week — the rough has grown thick on the right side of No. 8, ideally to prevent shots from stopping close to the cliff.
Spieth’s son, Sammy, was not even 3 months old at the time of last year’s tournament. Now he’s almost 15 months old, giving his dad a fresh perspective on his decision-making.
“I think now knowing my son a lot better, I may not have hit that shot,” Spieth said.
He returns to Pebble as the headliner in this week’s field, a 13-time PGA Tour winner — including the AT&T in 2017 — and three-time major champion. Spieth stands No. 16 in this week’s world ranking.
That makes him one of only three top-20 players in the field, along with reigning U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick (No. 10) and Viktor Hovland (11). Patrick Cantlay, ranked No. 5, originally was expected to play but is not in the field.
Spieth no longer counts as The Phenom, tearing through the junior ranks and turning pro after one year at the University of Texas. He won five times in 2015, the year he turned 22, including the Masters, U.S. Open and Tour Championship.
Now he’s on the brink of hitting 30, in July, and suddenly he doesn’t seem like one of the kids anymore. He’s in the prime of his career, chasing his first major title since he won the British Open in July 2017.
“I still feel like one of the younger guys out here,” Spieth said. “I don’t feel like I’m in the next stage (of his career) at all. Maybe that will be the case when I turn 30 . ... You guys have been calling me 40 since I was 21, so I don’t know what that makes me now.”
Spieth has long been sort of an old soul, poised and contemplative. Not surprisingly, then, he had some thoughts when he was asked about the heritage of the AT&T Pro-Am, and whether the PGA Tour might make it a “designated” event next year.
This week’s field is devoid of big names even more than usual, in part because the tour did not boost the purse as it did for events in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Los Angeles (among other places). Spieth has an endorsement deal with AT&T, so he’s not entirely objective, but he also understands the power of Pebble Beach as a venue.
“I would fight for an opportunity for this to be an elevated event in future years,” he said. “I’m not sure if the format would have to change or what would have to happen . ... But I really think getting the top 50 or 60 players in the world at Pebble Beach would be as successful as when the U.S. Open is held here.”