Spieth is on a roll going into U.S. Open
Top-four finishes in last five majors
OAKMONT, Pa. — Jordan Spieth feels confident about his game, typical of most top players going into a major.
Unlike many others at the U.S. Open, however, he speaks from experience.
Not since Tiger Woods a decade ago has anyone had such a run in golf’s biggest events. Spieth has not finished worse than fourth in his last five majors. He won the Masters and U.S. Open, missed a playoff at the British Open by one shot, was runner-up at the PGA Championship and tied for second at this year’s Masters.
He made it sound Monday as though form were secondary to sheer belief.
“Is my game always (good) ... no,” he said. “The Masters this year, tee to green, I felt much worse than I did at events where I finished 25th at a tour event. But because I just felt that we were ready and that we could do it and I could draw on past experience — especially at that event — we got into contention. I willed the putts in. I couldn’t really describe it to you other than it just being kind of a mental state of being confident at the majors.”
Such a streak is rare. In the last 60 years, only Jack Nicklaus (three times), Woods (twice) and Arnold Palmer have gone at least five straight majors in the top five.
Whether the 22-year-old Texan can extend his streak depends largely on Oakmont.
The course has lived up to its reputation as the toughest championship test in golf over the last couple of days of dry weather. Spieth was among those who predicted no one will finish the week under par, as was the case in 2007 at Oakmont when Angel Cabrera won at 5-over 285.
Rain could change that. But rain won’t make the rough shrink.
The density of the grass is as fearsome as the speed of the greens. Graeme McDowell had a bet with his caddie Sunday in which the former U.S. Open champion would get $30 for every birdie, and he would lose $10 for every bogey. He played the back nine and lost $50.
The wind was so strong Sunday that Spieth said he would have shot somewhere around 75 or 76 at best, and would have been happy with it.
“But today, with less wind, I thought that it was more playable,”
he said. “Still extremely challenging, where par is a great score, but I thought if you hit the ball where you were looking you could have birdie opportunities on quite a few holes.”
Spieth is coming off a stretch of playing four straight weeks, with one important tournament.
He missed the cut at The Players Championship, his first tournament back since losing a fiveshot lead on the back nine at the Masters. He lost a good chance to win in his hometown at the AT&T Byron Nelson when he shot 74 in the final round. The important week was Colonial, where Spieth birdied his last three holes to win. He started well at the Memorial before fading badly, but that win in Texas was big for his morale.
“That was a huge week for us, especially to win before any of the next majors,” he said. “If we can get ourselves in contention here, I can draw back on Colonial, what happened at the end there. I think it would have been that much harder.”
The really hard part is winning at Oakmont — not just because it’s Oakmont, but the history against him. Curtis Strange is the only player in the last 65 years to win the U.S. Open in back-to-back years, in 1988 and 1989.
SIX ADDED TO FIELD
Memorial winner William McGirt and Puerto Rico Open champion Tony Finau were among six players added to the U.S. Open on Monday.
The USGA set aside six spots for anyone who made the top 60 in the world ranking Monday. McGirt was at No. 44. No one else cracked the top 60, so the other spots went to five alternates from sectional qualifying sites.
Finau was the first alternate from the Springfield, Ohio, sectional, while Daniel Summerhays was first alternate from the larger Ohio section. The others were Zach Edmondson (Florida sectional), Kevin Foley (New Jersey) and Mike Van Sickle (Maryland), the son of Sports Illustrated golf writer Gary Van Sickle.