Jordan Spieth ignores caddie's smart advice and makes birdie from rough at Memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Buried in gnarly rough Thursday at the Memorial, the prudent shot for Jordan Spieth was to chip out sideways back to the fairway. That's what his caddie suggested.
That's not how Spieth operates.
'It's really hard to get me to chip out,' Spieth said after he opened with a hard-earned round of even-par 72 at Muirfield Village. 'I chip out maybe less than anyone else that's every played the game of golf.
'It's demoralizing enough that I'll make a terrible decision not to.'
That's what he faced Thursday on the par-5 fifth hole
after a tee shot that hit a tree and bounced slightly backward, creating a lie that went against the long blades of grass and left him a lie that was close to impossible.
What to do?
No commentary is necessary. Spieth provides that on his own.
'If it gets to the fairway, I can make 4,' he told Michael Greller, the caddie who has worked with him since the U.S. Junior in 2011. 'Versus do I still make 5 if I can't get it to the fairway.'
The fairway was only 115 yards away — the lie was that bad. They reasoned that if he didn't carry it to the fairway, he'd have to lay up again because of water in front of the green. Spieth still figured he could get that up-and-down for par.
As he settled over the shot, Greller made one last pitch: 'Why don't you hit it right there?' he said to Spieth, indicating a chip-out to the left.
'I don't want to hit it right there,' Spieth said. 'Because I'm hitting good shots, and they're getting absolutely boned so far, so I can't accept it.'
No one can fault Greller for trying to talk some safe sense into him, and this wasn't the first time. Spieth is aware of that.
'His hands are tied on some of those,' Spieth after his round, and then revisited that shot on the fifth hole. 'I didn't think I was going to be able to reach the fairway, and I talked him into ... I could still make par either way. The reality was eight of 10 (times), I'm not going to cover. I should punch it out.'
He hammered it. The ball caught the first cut and barely made it back to the fairway. That left him 128 yards to the hole, and his third shot was 25 feet below the hole.
Spieth holed the putt, of course.
'It actually got to the fairway and I made birdie,' he said, 'which doesn't help the whole cause.'
___
AP golf:
https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
36 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Don Nelson expresses his disappointment with Luka Doncic trade by wearing the star's shoes
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson was not a fan of the Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Doncic — and chose his footwear for Game 2 of the NBA Finals accordingly. Nelson arrived for the news conference announcing him as the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award winner, as selected by the National Basketball Coaches Association, wearing a pair of Doncic's signature Jordan Brand sneaker. The reason: He was showing Doncic — who he calls 'my dear friend' — support. 'As a matter of fact, I want everybody to know I'm wearing Luka's shoes, his new shoes from Nike that just got on the market,' Nelson said. 'I'm wearing them in protest for the trade from Dallas. Tremendous mistake by the Dallas franchise to trade him and I want everybody to know that.' Doncic was traded by Dallas to the Los Angeles Lakers this season for Anthony Davis, a blockbuster that the entire league found stunning. Fans in Dallas were furious for months, though some of that seems to have subsided in recent weeks with the Mavericks winning draft lottery and the chance to draft Cooper Flagg No. 1 overall later this month. Nelson said his philosophy on generational players is the one that Red Auerbach taught him: Don't trade those talents. 'His philosophy was when you have a great player — Bill Russell, (John) Havlicek, Sam Jones, you name 'em — you don't lose that player,' Nelson said. 'You keep him for a lifetime. You put his number up and you honor that player. That's been my philosophy.' Nelson has deep ties to Dallas, so his reaction to the Doncic trade is understandable. He coached the Mavericks for eight seasons and his son, Donnie Nelson, was an executive with Dallas from 2005 through 2021. ___ AP NBA:
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Rory McIlroy's strange moves, Scottie Scheffler's dominance and more star-powered US Open storylines
What's the deal with Rory McIlroy, fresh off his Masters victory to complete the career Grand Slam followed by a run of curious, if petulant, behavior since? What more might Scottie Scheffler, fresh off his dominant PGA Championship victory and another win at the Memorial, do on his unrelenting 106 consecutive week march as the world's No. 1 ranked player? Advertisement What does Bryson DeChambeau have in store as the defending champion who seems to be in the thick of contention in every major championship? What about the other star names on LIV Golf like Jon Rahm, the 2021 U.S. Open winner, Brooks Koepka, the 2017 and '18 U.S. Open winner, and Dustin Johnson, who won the U.S. Open in 2016, the last time it was played at Oakmont?
Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
Ryan Fox wins Canadian Open with 'best shot I've ever hit' in playoff to beat Sam Burns
Associated Press CALEDON, Ontario (AP) — Ryan Fox of New Zealand won for the second time in five weeks on the PGA Tour with another memorable shot in a playoff, this time a 3-wood to 7 feet on the fourth extra hole Sunday to beat Sam Burns in the RBC Canadian Open. Fox won the Myrtle Beach Classic last month by chipping in for birdie to win a three-man playoff. This one on the TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley took a little longer. What turned out to be the winning shot might be more memorable. Fox smoked a 3-wood that landed softly just left of the pin and settled 7 feet away. Burns pulled his 3-wood some 55 feet left of the front right pin. He ran his eagle putt 8 feet by and missed that one. Fox missed his eagle try before tapping in for birdie. 'To be honest, Sam and I had a bit of a pillow fight for three holes,' Fox said. 'But that shot I hit on 18, that 3-wood, was probably the best shot I've ever hit. It would have been nice to make the putt. But hey, I'll take it.' Fox holed a birdie putt from just inside 18 feet on the par-5 18th in regulation for a 4-under 66 that allowed him to join Sam Burns at 18-under 262. Burns had finished some two hours earlier with a birdie on the final hole for a 62. They played the 18th four more times — the PGA Tour moved the pin position from far left to front right after two extra holes — and there was nothing compelling about the extra holes. Burns, regarded as one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, had a birdie putt from just over 5 feet on the first playoff for the win. He left that out to the right. The next time down 18, Fox went for the green and pushed his 3-wood. The collar of rough stopped it from going in the water. He pitched to 12 feet and had that birdie putt for the win, but left it a foot short. Pillow fight, indeed. On the third time playing the 18th in overtime, Burns had a lob wedge that was short and to the right, spinning off the green and nearly into the water. Fox hit his 40 feet out to the right. They both made par. Fox delivered the goods on the final hole and now has two wins in just over a month. The victory moved the 38-year-old Fox from No. 75 to No. 32 in the world, getting him into the U.S. Open next week for being among the top 60 in the world ranking. Kevin Yu birdied the last hole for a 66 to finish alone in third, one shot out of the playoff. He narrowly missed out on the top 60 to get to Oakmont next week. But Yu joined Cameron Young and Matt McCarty as earning the top three spots for the British Open next month for players not already eligible. Fox already was in the British Open from his victory in the BMW PGA Championship in 2023, the flagship event on the European tour. Fox now has eight wins worldwide — two on the PGA Tour, four on the European tour and two on the PGA Tour of Australasia. Burns was hopeful of ending more than two years without a victory, his last title coming in the final year of the World Golf Championships-Match Play in 2023. Young shot a 65 to tie for fourth. He was within range of Burns when Young made an incredible par on the 17th, going from the trees on the right to mangled left on the rough, gouging that out to 15 feet and making the putt. But needing birdie on the par-5 closing hole to catch Burns, the clubhouse leader at the time, Young flushed a 3-wood into the breeze and over the green into the trees, leaving him virtually no shot. It took two to get on the green and he made bogey to finish two shots behind. 'I couldn't have hit two better shots on the last hole. I don't hit 3-wood that far, and it's blowing straight into the wind, and it decided to bounce all the way to the back woods,' Young said. 'I thought in the air I was going to have about a 12-footer to win the tournament, and it ended up somewhere I was going to struggle to make par, let alone make a 4. Pretty upset.' ___ AP golf: in this topic
