NASSAU, Bahamas – Jordan Spieth has been asked for months to recount his season and tell how he plans to maintain such success in the future.
After finishing his final round for the year, Sunday at the Hero World Challenge, he was asked what his best shot was. He couldn’t come up with one. He had four (maybe more).
He didn’t define them, Nos. 1-4, but this is the order in which he listed them:
“Flop shot at Augusta,” he said first. That was during the third round of the Masters. Spieth had just double bogeyed the 17th hole and his lead – the one he had carried since Thursday – was down to four.
After pushing an approach shot well right of the 18th green, Spieth hit a full-swing flop shot off a tight, downhill lie, over a bunker. His ball landed perfectly and stopped inside of 10 feet from the hole. He made the putt for par and went on to win his first major.
“Putt on No. 1 in the final round. And No. 3. I’d combine those,” he said next. Spieth was referring to Sunday at Augusta National. Leading by four to start the final round of the Masters, Spieth birdied Nos. 1 and 3. The first make, from about 10 feet, matched Justin Rose’s opening birdie and kept Spieth four ahead. The second make, a much more difficult left-to-right curler from about 18 feet, allowed him to reclaim a four-stroke lead after Rose had narrowed it to three.
“Thirteen at the Masters on Sunday,” was next on his mind. Coming off a bogey at the par-3 12th – but still leading by five – Spieth hit a 3-wood off the tee and the ball hooked nicely around the bend on the dogleg left hole. He hit a 5-iron off an uphill slope, his ball landing just in front of Rae’s Creek, safely onto the green and bounding 10 feet from the hole. He two-putted for birdie.
“Three-woods on 18 at Chambers [Bay],” he said, finishing up the recollection. The lone non-Masters shot, this happened in the final round of the U.S. Open. Tied for the lead following a double bogey at the 71st hole, Spieth had to birdie the par-5 18th to have a shot at winning the second leg of the Grand Slam. After a great drive, he hit a 3-wood from 284 yards. The ball raced to the back of the green, caught the slope and funneled within 15 feet of the hole. He two-putted for birdie and won in regulation after Dustin Johnson three-putted the final hole.
