IRVING, Texas – Jordan Spieth had said all week that this AT&T Byron Nelson felt different.
Maybe it was Thursday’s rain and relatively thin crowds, maybe it was the world No. 2’s record in recent years at his hometown event, but there wasn’t the buzz that he’d experienced when he was a 16-year-old amateur playing the event.
That was until the 17th hole on Saturday.
Spieth hit his tee shot to 19 feet to set the crowd abuzz and he rolled in the birdie putt to pull within a stroke of 54-hole leader Brooks Koepka.
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“No. 17 is the loudest roar I’ve ever heard,” said Koepka, who was paired with Spieth on Saturday.
For Spieth it was a shot in the arm after a tough ball-striking day and gave him a little extra motivation going into Sunday’s final round.
“That’s a moment that I’ll never forget. To be honest, even though it’s Saturday, it may or may not have any impact on this tournament, that was the coolest roar I’ve ever heard,” said Spieth, who bogeyed the last and trails Koepka by two strokes. “There’s nothing I could do after but just start smiling. That was really, really cool.”
