Jordan Spieth has so impressed the patrons around these parts that they’ll watch him perform the most routine of tasks.
After hitting his tee shot into the 18th fairway late Saturday afternoon, Spieth took a left turn down a service road that leads to a concession stand and restroom tucked away in the trees. Patrons race-walked – no running at Augusta National! – to follow the former Masters champion, who was flanked by an armed police officer.
Owning a Green Jacket has its privileges, so Spieth ducked in the restroom’s exit to hasten his pit stop. Security guards stood outside the door as patrons gathered to see when he would emerge. The crowd followed Spieth for some 70 yards before he shook the officers’ hands and ducked back under the gallery ropes.
The detour had no impact on Spieth, who hit the green with his approach shot and two-putted for his par, which completed a 4-under 68 that was Saturday’s second-lowest round, behind Justin Rose’s 67. Now he has an opportunity to add another record-setting victory to his Masters resume.
At 4-under 212 (75-69-68), he’s just two shots behind co-leaders Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia despite starting his fourth Masters with a 75. Spieth, 23, already set the tournament’s 72-hole scoring record in his dominant 2015 victory. Another win Sunday would make him the youngest two-time winner in tournament history and the second-fastest to claim two Green Jackets. Only Horton Smith, who won two of the first three tournaments held at Augusta National, collected them quicker.
Spieth is playing his fourth Masters. He’ll find himself in an unfamiliar position Sunday. This is the first time he doesn’t hold at least a share of the third-round lead. Already owning one Green Jacket makes Sunday’s objective simple for Spieth.
“I plan to play aggressively because at this point it’s win or go home,” Spieth said. “Finishing fifth versus 10th doesn’t mean much to me, so that frees me up a bit tomorrow.”
Rose played with Spieth in the final group two years ago. Both players shot 70 on the final day as Spieth won by four shots. He’s seen firsthand what Spieth can do on this golf course.
“It’s a second?shot golf course, and he’s a good iron player. He’s very sharp with that,” Rose said. “He’s got a great golfing brain. This is a very strategic golf course and you have to make good, smart decisions out there. It tempts you at times. It can dangle the carrot. You need to be on top of your thinking and he’s very good at that, and his putting speaks for itself.
“These greens obviously require imagination. They break a lot, so to see the lines is key. But when you pick your line and pick it well, they go in, so it rewards good putting.”
Spieth has a tall task ahead of him, though. No player has won the Masters when trailing by more than seven shots after the first round. Spieth was 10 behind after he shot a 75 on Thursday that included a quadruple-bogey on the par-5 15th hole. It was his second consecutive round at Augusta National with a quad, but this time he has 57 holes, not six, to recover.
Spieth’s second-round 69 pulled him within four shots of the lead. He played the next 36 holes in 7 under par, including a bogey-free stretch of 29 holes that started on Friday’s fifth hole and ended with a three-putt at No. 16 late Saturday afternoon.
“Yesterday’s round was huge, and it was bigger than today’s in my opinion, because it gave me that chance,” Spieth said Saturday. “I went to bed with my heart pumping faster last night.”
Craig Stadler (1982) is the only player to win the Masters after shooting 75 in the first round. He shot 69-67 the next two days – one better than Spieth – before a final-round 73 forced a playoff with Dan Pohl, who also started the week with a 75. Stadler won when Pohl missed a 6-foot par putt on the first extra hole.
Spieth will play in Sunday’s second-to-last group with Rickie Fowler, who’s one shot ahead of him. Ryan Moore and Charley Hoffman are tied with Spieth, while two Masters champions, Adam Scott and Charl Schwartzel, are 3 under and 2 under, respectively.
“Jordan Spieth is a huge threat to this tournament,” Scott said.
I plan to play aggressively because at this point it’s win or go home.
He wasn’t after he made the turn Friday, still sitting 3 over par for the week. He made six birdies and no bogeys over the next 18 holes, then closed the third round by making birdie on the second nine’s two par-5s before the three-putt at the par-3 16th.
“We fought back tremendously to have a chance to win this golf tournament,” Spieth said. “No matter what happens at the end, we will have a chance to win with a really good round tomorrow.”
Spieth has drawn inspiration from Tom Brady and Arnold Palmer this week, but he also has his own history that he can use for inspiration.
On Saturday, Spieth hit his tee shot on No. 13 into the pine straw right of the fairway, not far from where Phil Mickelson hit his miraculous recovery en route to his 2010 win here, and debated with caddie Michael Greller about whether to go for the green with his second shot.
Before hitting a 4-iron onto the green and two-putting for birdie, Spieth asked, “What would Arnie do?” He was pleased when he learned later that the telecast’s microphones picked up that comment. This is the first Masters since Palmer’s passing in September. Patrons have been given “Arnie’s Army” badges this week, and Palmer was honored in an emotional ceremony on the first tee Thursday. There was a moment of silence as his Green Jacket was draped over one of the white lawn chairs that he, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player would sit in as they waited to hit the tournament’s honorary first tee shots.
“I think Mike (Greller) was taken aback,” Spieth said about the rhetorical question. “’What would Arnie do?’ was my way of expressing it to Michael. We all know exactly what he would have done. I’m proud that I pulled that shot off.”
Spieth had to lay up on the par-5 15th hole, which is exactly how Thursday’s troubles started. He hit his third shot into the water, hit the next one over the green and then three-putted. Not this time. Spieth’s approach shot spun back to within 3 feet of the hole.
Spieth played Augusta National with Brady two weeks ago, and cited the Patriots’ most recent Super Bowl victory as further proof that no deficit is too large. He doesn’t need to look at anyone else’s performances, though.
“I’ve come back and won tournaments before, all the way from six back on the PGA TOUR,” he said. “I can draw off those experiences.”
And perhaps add another Green Jacket in record-setting fashion.
PGA Tour Release
