The post Why English golf courses deserve the same respect as tracks in Ireland and Scotland appeared first on Golf.

The post Why English golf courses deserve the same respect as tracks in Ireland and Scotland appeared first on Golf.

The post Why English golf courses deserve the same respect as tracks in Ireland and Scotland appeared first on Golf.

The post 5 key golf course design features pros hate and amateurs love (and vice versa) appeared first on Golf.

The post 5 key golf course design features pros hate and amateurs love (and vice versa) appeared first on Golf.

A healthy tension exists between the architect and the player. On the one hand, the architect must make the golf engaging by putting obstacles in the player’s way. Otherwise, what’s the point? Understanding the player’s perspective is a bit trickier, because, in broad strokes, there are two basic kinds of players. The vast majority — 99 percent — play for recreation, while the 1 percenters do it as a vocation. (Sure, there are several thousand amateurs who approach the game with a similar discipline to the professionals, but they are a drop in the recreational bucket.) Though the number of ace players is tiny, they obviously wield outsize influence given the massive visibility of broadcast golf.

Travel

What is course routing and how does it affect your round?

By: Desi Isaacson

With no potential paycheck to stress over, the recreational player looks to get other rewards from the round. The chance to connect to nature. To spend time with friends and family. To puzzle solve. The professional takes an understandably dimmer view of obstacles that he perceives impede his ability to earn a wage and support his family.

All of which is to say, different strokes for different folks. Here are some key design features almost guaranteed to elicit divergent responses from amateurs and pros.

1. Blind Shots

Professionals, bless their cotton socks, usually hit where they aim, so naturally they prefer to see what they’re supposed to accomplish. Pete Dye, to cite the most well-known example, felt it was an architect’s duty to get the player out of his comfort zone. Blind shots do just that via the fear of the unknown. The amateur is less fussy — if a shot must be launched over the brow of a hillock or sand dune, well, here goes nothing! Thus, come British Open time, pros tend to like the visibility of the fairways at Royal Birkdale, while architecture aficionados prefer how the holes at Royal St. George’s hit the landforms in varied ways — including the classic “up-and-over” blind tee shot at No. 7 with its skyline fairway.

2. Central hazards

When Joe Pro pipes one down the center of the fairway, his not unreasonable expectation is that’s where he will find his ball — in the center of the damn fairway! Should he come upon it in a bunker surrounded by short grass, smoke may be visible from his ears. Clever Tour-hosting designs like Trinity Forest and TPC Boston produce such reactions, as they feature the occasional central hazard. The architecturally savvy amateur instead appreciates that the most meaningful place for a bunker is one in the direct line of play, forcing a decision. The Golden Age of Architecture arguably kicked off at the turn of the last century when Stuart Paton famously inserted two bunkers into the 4th fairway at England’s Woking Golf Club, a bastion of amateur golf.

3. Greens sloped from back to front

Once pros get the measure of a course, they go straight into attack mode. Most designs unwittingly help them get dialed in by presenting the same target over and over, which is to say, 18 greens that slope conventionally from back to front.

If that variable doesn’t change, the pro can lock in on the (repetitive) task. Conversely, the surest way to create doubt is to provide something different that keeps him off guard. Few things do that better than a front-to-back sloping green, which involves a complete change of mindset.

While greens that slope toward the player usually mean that the ball will stop near where it lands, greens that slope away mean that where the ball lands and where it finishes are two very different things — it requires judgment by the player, which means thought, which means, yes, doubt.

Travel

PHOTOS: Tour Oakmont Country Club, home to a dozen major championships

By: Nick Piastowski

The front-to-back 1st and 10th greens at Oakmont magnificently send a loud and clear message that this playing experience is going to be different, Buster. The bruised pro may well tell you that the best thing about Oakmont is leaving; I’ve got it in my world top 5 because the course makes so many different asks of the player.

4. Firm playing surfaces

The greenkeeper plays a starring role here. Amateurs love lightning-fast conditions, not least because tee balls run forever. It’s why so many cherish an annual trip across the pond or to the fescue fairways of a Mike Keiser project above other playing experiences. From the pro’s point of view, a ball that keeps rolling is like a wandering teenager — it’s likely going to find trouble. Professionals are control freaks when it comes to their golf ball, and anything that unsettles that notion is problematic. I had a firsthand view of this at the 2014 U.S. Open, where Pinehurst No. 2 was carefully dried out to perfection. The 50-yard-wide fairways suddenly became a lot more narrow based on their angles to the tees, and the brick-hard, crowned greens, with gravity as their accomplice, had everyone thinking defense first for a change.

5. Wild interior green contours

I can’t imagine standing over a putt for any significant amount of money, much less one for tens of thousands of dollars. The expression that ends with “putt for dough” clearly hits home when golf is your job. Ergo, greens with wild contours that stand between the pro and the promised land are frowned upon by the play-for-money set. The U.S. Open at Winged Foot will no doubt have plenty of gnashing of the teeth. Meanwhile, an invite to play at Winged Foot is among the most cherished opportunities in the sport for an amateur who will never forget one-off putts to perimeter hole locations that can break upward of 20 (!) feet.

Looking for a course that possesses all five design attributes? What else: The Old Course at St. Andrews. Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Bob Jones have all won there. Do I think the features above helped identify the three greatest golf minds of all time? You bet. Should modern architects look to incorporate more of them into their designs? You bet. But then again, I’m just an amateur.

The post 5 key golf course design features pros hate and amateurs love (and vice versa) appeared first on Golf.

The post The time Tiger Woods used Mark O’Meara’s backup putter — and nearly won The Open appeared first on Golf.

The post The time Tiger Woods used Mark O’Meara’s backup putter — and nearly won The Open appeared first on Golf.

Nearly every golfer knows about the Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS prototype putter that Tiger Woods used to win 14 of his 15 major titles. But that’s not the only putter he’s used throughout his career.

As we highlighted in a recent story — “Every putter Tiger Woods has ever used in his career” — Woods once used Mark O’Meara’s backup Ping Anser 2 putter in the 1998 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Funny enough, O’Meara won in a playoff against Brian Watts. But sitting just one shot out of that playoff was Woods, who was using O’Meara’s backup putter.

There’s a famous quote from O’Meara regarding the backup putter incident, but we wanted to get the full story from the man himself. Recently, at the 2020 Cologuard Classic, I caught up with O’Meara, who was more than happy to tell this classic tale about Woods.

During the time when Woods moved into Isleworth, just four houses down from O’Meara, the two were seemingly inseparable. They would play countless rounds together, including practice rounds during major weeks.

Before Woods found incredible success with his now famous Scotty Cameron around 1999, he apparently coveted O’Meara’s Ping Anser 2. He would ask to hit a putt with it on occasion, and O’Meara said Woods would make the putts about 90 percent of the time using it.

“You have to give me this putter,” Tiger once pleaded.

“No, this is my putter,” O’Meara said. “I need it. I don’t hit the ball like you, I have to putt well.”

“Then you have to leave this putter to me in your will,” Woods said.

O’Meara didn’t budge, obviously, but he did make a compromise.

“You know, I’m not going to let you putt with my putter because I putt with my putter. But if you want, you can putt with my backup putter,” he said.

So, for about three months in the summer of 1998, Woods took O’Meara up on his offer. That time period included the 1998 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, where O’Meara and Woods traveled together on Woods’ plane. On the way back, after O’Meara won the event and Woods finished one shot back, the ribbing began.

Getty Images

---

The post The time Tiger Woods used Mark O’Meara’s backup putter — and nearly won The Open appeared first on Golf.

The post Stories of 2017: Jordan Spieth and one of the greatest back nines in major history appeared first on Golf.

The post Stories of 2017: Jordan Spieth and one of the greatest back nines in major history appeared first on Golf.

How Jordan Spieth miraculously escaped disaster to win his third major title at the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

The post Stories of 2017: Jordan Spieth and one of the greatest back nines in major history appeared first on Golf.

The post Recapping Jordan Spieth’s epic Sunday back nine at the Open appeared first on Golf.

The post Recapping Jordan Spieth’s epic Sunday back nine at the Open appeared first on Golf.

Ryan Asselta and Alan Shipnuck join GOLF Live host Jessica Marksbury to discuss Jordan Spieth’s dramatic finish at the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

The post Recapping Jordan Spieth’s epic Sunday back nine at the Open appeared first on Golf.

The post Jordan Spieth drinks out of claret jug after Open victory appeared first on Golf.

The post Jordan Spieth drinks out of claret jug after Open victory appeared first on Golf.

The taste of a British Open victory is awfully sweet, huh Jordan?

Not long after claiming his third career major, Jordan Spieth was already drinking out of the claret jug alongside Justin Thomas, who was filming the act. What was Spieth drinking? We may never know, but whatever it was sure tasted fantastic, according to the Snapchat video.

It wouldn’t be unique for Spieth to drink from the jug after winning it. As we once chronicled, that trophy has many, many stories to tell from its time with Open Champions. Spieth will have a full year to do whatever he wants with the jug. But for now, check out the video below.

Let’s gooooo @JordanSpieth (via @JustinThomas34) pic.twitter.com/Zo9c6zzLsz

— Fore Play (@ForePlayPod) July 23, 2017

The post Jordan Spieth drinks out of claret jug after Open victory appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour Confidential: What did we learn about Jordan Spieth from his gritty, thrilling performance? appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour Confidential: What did we learn about Jordan Spieth from his gritty, thrilling performance? appeared first on Golf.

Every Sunday night, GOLF.com conducts an e-mail roundtable with writers from Sports Illustrated and GOLF Magazine. Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors and join the conversation by tweeting us @golf_com.

Jordan Spieth won the British Open with a thrilling, topsy-turvy, final-round 69 that was anything but easy. What did you learn about Spieth and his game Sunday that you didn’t already know?

Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: He’s off the charts for heart and brains. He’s not in the class of McIlroy and Dustin Johnson for golf skill. But he’s off the charts for heart and brains.

Jeff Ritter, digital development editor, GOLF.com (@Jeff_Ritter): His resiliency, which was written about in spades during his historic 2015, remains one of his defining traits. No one else could’ve bounced back from that weird and wild scene on 13 to play the last five holes in five under. He may not dominate like Tiger, but Spieth has the most unbreakable spirit in golf today, just as Tiger did in his prime.

Sean Zak, associate editor, GOLF.com (@Sean_Zak): I learned he no longer gets ahead of himself. I think at the 2016 Masters, with a huge lead entering the back nine, he got a bit ahead of himself, and it led him into some rash decision-making. Sunday, having driven the ball nearly off Birkdale’s planet, Spieth took it one slow minute at a time; one slow decision at a time. He made his bogey, didn’t race to the 14th tee, calmly striped a near-ace and quickly got his mojo back. As Michael Bamberger wrote in the game story, so many people—amateur or pro—become unhinged in those moments.

​Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, Sports Illustrated (@AlanShipnuck): The kid is all heart. There was cause to doubt that after the last two holes of the 2015 Open and Augusta last year. But the grit he showed on Sunday at Birkdale has already passed into legend.

Joe Passov, travel writer, GOLF Magazine (@joepassov): All day long, I paid heed to Bones Mackay’s comment the day before that he feels Spieth has an incredible golf IQ. Not only did he acquit himself admirably in the 13th hole situation, but he hit so many great shots and holed so many clutch putts at a time where both the drive at 13 and the 2016 Masters could have easily haunted him into escalating the nightmare. He’s truly a special player, being able to regroup so quickly and so brilliantly.

The moment that will define Spieth’s win was his bogey on the 13th hole, where after driving his ball into a dune, he took an unplayable-lie drop in the driving range. All told, it took him nearly a half an hour to play the hole. He apologized to Kuchar on the green and thanked him at the winner’s ceremony but are you OK with how Spieth handled the situation?

Bamberger: Perfect? Intelligent? Appropriate for the circumstances? There is no wrong answer here.

Ritter: It took a long time, but not sure what else he could do. For most of us, the earth would start spinning during that kind of confusion. Carefully thinking and executing through the situation no doubt contributed to his steadiness over the closing holes.

Zak: Think about that scenario for a second. Final group, final day, final few decisions for the rules official. Sure, there was some waddling indecisiveness, but it was done among multiple people and thousands of spectators. Could it have been five minutes quicker? Maybe in a vacuum.

Shipnuck: It’s noteworthy that they had already been warned for slow play before that hole. Spieth showed an amazing composure and thoughtfulness in managing a chaotic situation and that’s what ultimately won him the Open. Yet, it wasn’t really fair to Kuchar, who had just hit his best shot of the back nine and then got iced for half an hour before such a crucial putt.

Passov: As awkward and drawn out as the mess at 13 was, Spieth handled it beautifully, and with the maturity of someone with twice his experience. What was it, 20 minutes? 30 minutes? Yet, he followed protocol, with rules officials alongside every step of the way. Had there not been the obstructions there were, typical for modern tournament golf, and with the practice range in play–perhaps controversially so–we wouldn’t be talking about this. He knew the rules, and he examined his options thoughtfully. Can’t ask for more than that.

Kuchar afforded himself respectably in the head-to-head showdown, but ultimately 22 players posted a better score Sunday than his one-under 69. Did Kooch’s play elevate or lower his position on the list of best players without a major title?

Bamberger: Playing in the last group is not the same. He handled his game and himself beautifully. As a golfer and I think person, he does not try to be something he’s not. He’s very good. His game at one point was GONE. He nearly won a gold medal and he nearly won an Open. He should be proud of where he is.

Ritter: Kooch has nothing to feel bad about. He played great, and in golf you can’t play defense. This bizarre Open Sunday felt in a lot of ways like Spieth’s destiny. I think Kuchar will get a major of his own before it’s all over.

Zak: I think he certainly elevated himself, if ever so slightly. That group of best players without a major title is always led by those who came painstakingly close at least once and often multiple times. This was Kuchar’s first one-hand-on-the-trophy miss, and he did it by shooting one under on the back nine. He played great golf and finished well. Spieth just played better.

Shipnuck: I would say Kucher was solid, not great. He had Jordan on the ropes, but was playing too cautiously to land the knockout punch. Then on the closing holes, he never put any pressure on Spieth.

Passov: I’m with Mr. Shipnuck here. It was symptomatic of his day, of the fight he offered, that he missed the fairway with his drive at 17–but then went on to birdie. He did many of the right things to have won, just not enough of them, or at the right time. He definitely moved up on my list of best players not to win a major so far, though he was pretty close to the top anyway.

A day after Branden Grace set a major-championship scoring record with an 8-under 62 in the third round, China’s Haotong Li became the sixth player in history to shoot a 63 in the final round of a major–an effort that landed him a solo third-place finish. Whose round was more impressive?

Bamberger: Li’s round was more impressive but Grace’s round was far more significant. He did it. Thirty major cards with 63 on it. Now 31. But only one with a 62. Not knowing surely helped. But we knew, and it was great, even if the course was not Oakmont ’73. It was Royal Birkdale, it was the Open, and he made the shots and holed the putts and played a perfect, or near-perfect, round of golf. Bravo.

Ritter: Grace indeed had a brilliant round, but after decades of mystique around this record, its fall felt anticlimactic. Round 3 at a breezeless Open, where the record-breaker begins the day double digits off the lead and on 18 doesn’t know what he’s putting for? He’s history, but it wasn’t exactly Roger Bannister cracking the 4-minute mile.

Zak: Ah, my favorite debate! Let the statistics show that…basically nothing separates the two other than “history” and 24 hours. The course average Sunday was 70.13, making Li’s round 7.1 strokes better than average. Grace’s round came on an easier setup one day prior, but it was essentially the same when compared to the field (7.02 strokes). 62 was special, but we’re just splitting hairs here.

Shipnuck: Grace all the way. Li never really had a chance to win, and he knew it. Grace accomplished something no man had ever accomplished before him and he’s now in the history books, unlike Li.

Passov: I’m in complete accord with Mr. Ritter on this one. I was out west in Arizona, and woke up pretty early Saturday morning, only to find out the record had been set. Wow. After all of that build-up, and Michael Bamberger’s excellent SI piece earlier this year, that’s it? There’s our 62, from a guy who barely made the cut? Then, when the other low scores followed, on a course rendered defenseless by the (lack of) weather, it felt like we had a John Deere Classic on our hands. Yes, the 62 was phenomenal, but it almost felt like you had played poorly if you posted 68 or higher. Mr. Li’s Sunday 63 was distinctive because it came from nowhere, but won’t much be remembered after tonight.

Was Royal Birkdale sufficiently set up to the challenge the players as a major-championship venue, or should golf go to greater lengths to protect its scoring records?

Bamberger: The R&A and the host clubs have it exactly correct. The course is the course. Do with it as you like and let nature do her thing. Then let the players play. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Ritter: Birkdale, like most Open venues, uses weather as one of its main defenses. On Saturday it was defenseless, but those are the breaks. I enjoy a rough and tumble U.S. Open where every par is an accomplishment, but at the British let’s keep playing these classic links courses as they were intended and let the chips fall.

Zak: I can’t say anything that Bamberger and Ritter haven’t already said. Birkdale was a significant test in tough weather; it was gettable with absolutely perfect weather; and it was very fair (to the level of play) during intermediate weather. What more can you ask for?

Shipnuck: I spent all of Saturday in a Twitter jihad on this subject and I’m going to write a column about it for GOLF.com so I’m going to shield my full answer for now. But in a word: no, it wasn’t.

Passov: The R&A, as with the USGA, has to guard against over-the-top setups, because they were burned in 2015 at St. Andrews, when the golf ball wouldn’t stay put on the greens, and especially at Carnoustie in 1999, when the setup was a joke in terms of fairway width and depth of rough. Unfortunately, when the greens are too soft, and there’s little wind, as was the case at Birkdale–certainly on Saturday–even a championship links course will yield low scores to today’s players. There simply aren’t enough teeth to bite these guys in today’s game, given calm, soft conditions. I loved the reasonable green speeds from Troon in 2016, when two guys–but only two–happened to get super-hot, just like Turnberry in 1977, but frankly, I was bored watching Saturday’s play at Birkdale. Simply not enough challenge to test these guys properly under major championship pressure.

We’ll close with a number: How many majors will Spieth win in his career?

Ritter: The Open sets up perfectly for his iron-putter-grit combo, so I will bullishly give him three more of those. I think he’ll vanquish his demons in Amen Corner at another Masters, and also bag a second U.S. Open. Somewhere along the way, he’ll finish the Grand Slam. That’s nine and a heck of a career.

Bamberger: It’s fun to try but who can measure health and desire and the rub of the green? I think he’ll win a PGA Championship between now and 2047 and be one of the few with a career grand slam.

Zak: It’s easy to see Spieth atop the game for the next 20 years. That’s how elite he is at getting his ball in the damn hole. I think he grabs two majors every five years—on average—and one after he’s turned 45, so with three already in the bag, I’m ready to crown him a 12-major man when it’s all said and done. And then there’s the Champions Tour

Shipnuck: Somewhere between Palmer and Bobby Jones, which is rather epic.

Passov: I’m amazed that with as many poor drives as Spieth hits, and how many short putts he now misses, that he’s even in this conversation. Yet, he is–and I love it! As a history guy, I think of folks like Walter Hagen and Seve Ballesteros (and yes, Phil Mickelson), because you just didn’t know what was going to happen next to them, what sort of jam they’d be in, only to extricate themselves with a crazy chip-in or by holing a bomb. Better yet, they emote. That touch of genius is such great, fun stuff from a fan’s standpoint. I’ll root for that all day long. Nine majors for Jordan Spieth.

The post Tour Confidential: What did we learn about Jordan Spieth from his gritty, thrilling performance? appeared first on Golf.

The post Jordan Spieth wins 146th Open Championship appeared first on Golf.

The post Jordan Spieth wins 146th Open Championship appeared first on Golf.

Jordan Spieth captured the claret jug in epic fashion Sunday at Royal Birkdale, for his third major and third leg of the career grand slam.

The post Jordan Spieth wins 146th Open Championship appeared first on Golf.

The post Branden Grace sets major record with 62 at British Open appeared first on Golf.

The post Branden Grace sets major record with 62 at British Open appeared first on Golf.

Branden Grace fired a 62 in the third round of the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, becoming the first player ever to break 63 in a major.

The post Branden Grace sets major record with 62 at British Open appeared first on Golf.

The post Flashing the game and the grit his forebears would applaud, Jordan Spieth grabbed the lead at Birkdale appeared first on Golf.

The post Flashing the game and the grit his forebears would applaud, Jordan Spieth grabbed the lead at Birkdale appeared first on Golf.

The humidity was building all through the day and when the first midafternoon downpour came, the spectators on the great lawn—giant TV, large beers, wood-fired pizzas—scattered fast. Out on the course, and in the space of minutes, the deep rough was drenched and the bunkers and greens, already saturated from a Wednesday rain, were starting to puddle, at least here and there. Michael Greller was wearing a ski hat and carrying five towels for his man, Jordan Spieth. Their bag, caddie told player, had never been heavier. And that was with his guy going good and shooting 69. Can you imagine if Spieth had shot Phil Mickelson’s 77? That bag is dragging.

So, the caddies were tested. The camera operators were tested. The squeegee guys were tested. Most of all, it almost goes without saying, the players playing through it were tested. Tested in a way that they cannot be tested in a gym, on a practice tee, at Kapalua. Jordan Spieth, stand up and take a bow, brother. Weather visited the second round of this 146th British Open and it was time to man up and that is what you did. (From the Urban Dictionary: “Brave it.” Not a sexist term.) Jordan Spieth, 23 going on 37, stood right in that weather, in his Under Armour this and his Under Armour that, and played the game that would have made his hard-assed, grind-it-out forebears proud. Anticipating rain, he wore not his little mini socks by ones that nearly reached his ankles. They never got wet.

Opens days are long. Off in the first group on Friday morning at 6:35 was the golfer you know as Beef. Off in the day’s last game at 4:16 p.m. was another Englishman, a Robert Dinwiddie. At an Open, the luck of the draw can dictate everything. We’re not saying Round II of ’17 was Round II of 2010 at St. Andrews or Round II of 1985 at Royal St. George’s or Round II of 1961 at Birkdale, Arnold Palmer presiding. But it was … challenging.

Here’s a thing we don’t often get in the States. Over the course of nine or 10 hours you can have two or three weather systems in coastal England and coastal Scotland. In the first two rounds, if you played early one day, you played late the next and that, as the poet (Frost) said, “made all the difference.” That’s why his place atop the yellow-and-red leaderboards, rain streaked and cheerfully gaudy, is all the more remarkable, because he got the worse of it on Thursday and Friday. He would dispute that (but that’s his nature). He says there was a two-hour period in his five-hour round (with one suspension for rain) during which the wind died down. Well, he would know. But the Union Jack flags and the Hugo Boss flags and the Royal Birkdale flags told a different story. They took no break.

He was off at 9:47 a.m. on Thursday, which means he played the front nine in cool, gusty conditions that offered little promise to a golfer looking to break 70, which Spieth did by five shots in the opener. His Friday round was the round of the day, 69 being one under par on this purest of pure English links. Yes, Rory McIlroy shot 68, which students of the higher maths will tell you is one shot fewer. But he played no shots, as Spieth did, gripping the life out of the club to make sure it did not leave his hands, noting his tee shot on the par-3 7th in particular.

Spieth won the Masters and the U.S. Open in 2015, and he’s been close in the PGA Championship and in the Open. Yes, halfway to the career grand slam. If he wins here, his second-round eagle on 15 will barely be a footnote, but we will give it the attention it deserves here now because links golf requires every trick in the book, including the ability to keep cool in the face of bad luck and appreciate when good fortune smacks you upside your head. Take it away, Jordan:

“Fifteen. As long as you don’t hit it in the two right pot bunkers, you should be able to reach the green in two. I didn’t hit a great drive. Iffy lie. I had a three-iron out and I changed to three-wood because I’ve hit the shot many times out of the rough with the three-wood, where you open the face and hit a cut shot off the left and let it just slide. And it was the smart shot because it was probably going to come out. It was going to come out better than the three-iron.

“There was no worry about covering anything in my mind. And as long as I got it on line with the green, it was either there or past. And Michael had said, ‘Why don’t you hit one about 60 yards short? Your wedge game has been so solid.’ I watched in [the morning] coverage and saw if you were past the pin, it was better. So I went with a three-wood.

“I mis-hit the shot because, which is probably why it looked so gross on the Shot Tracker. Obviously, I wanted it to miss the last bunker. I lined up way left with the whipping wind off the left, just to open the face and have it get anywhere around or over the green. And there really wasn’t much trouble to it. I thought the closer I was getting it to the pin or long, the easier the four would have been. I hit it low off the heel, which is easy to do when you’re trying to carve a cut. And it just one-hopped and scooted around the group of bunkers there.

“So it was really nice to capitalize on that. I knew after it had missed that bunker it was going to be pretty good. And then Michael and I had a reaction that I think kind of told what the shot was, which we knew it was pretty lucky, that we got away with one there. And I was able to knock that putt in.”

Spieth said he plans to wear his Friday socks again on Saturday. Smart move, guy. They’re working, he’s working, Greller is working, Kuchar is chasing. This looks good.

The post Flashing the game and the grit his forebears would applaud, Jordan Spieth grabbed the lead at Birkdale appeared first on Golf.