AUGUSTA, Ga. – It had been a while since Jordan Spieth went bogey-free around Augusta National Golf Club.
In fact, Spieth hadn’t kept a clean card here since the second round of the 2016 Masters, when he fired a 66 for what, at the time, was his second bogey-free round in 10 career attempts.
So, in that sense, Spieth’s 3-under 69 Saturday was meaningful.
“That's the goal every time I tee it up on No. 1,” Spieth said.
But it didn’t mean that Spieth wasn’t still frustrated. Usually demonstrative, Spieth had some heightened moments in recent days. After his drive on the par-4 18th hit a tree branch on Friday, Spieth bemoaned the break with caddie Michael Greller.
Spieth: “At this point, ‘4’ is out the window. It's not happening. ... I'm so frustrated.”
Greller: “Well, get over it. You gotta get over it.”
Spieth: “That's a full f---ing shot.”
Spieth was right; he closed with bogey.
A day later, Spieth dropped to his knees after his approach at the par-4 14th, raising his club up above his head and appearing to debate his options for release. Spieth, of course, saved par, but it didn’t mask his big issue.
“My iron play killed me the last two days,” said Spieth, who missed six greens Saturday, just like in the opening round, and hit just half of them on Friday.
There were silver linings. Spieth seems more comfortable with his newest driver, his fifth different one since cracking his driver face at Pebble Beach. He also took advantage of an incredible break at the par-5 eighth, where he hooked his second shot into the trees and immediately reloaded a provisional, only to discover that his ball was nearly on grass.
And the putter has been extremely reliable.
“I made a few 8-footers for par,” Spieth said. “You're just going to have that at some point here, even in a really flawless round. Like on 4, I landed it just over the bunker and it shot just over the green, and if it stays on, it's an easy two-putt, but just over, you're like, I can't chip it within 8 feet, and that kind of stuff will happen here on just the severity. Now, I'm right of the pin. If you're left of the pin, you're all good. If you're just a little off on the direction, then you've got to make that 6-, 7-, 8-footer for par, and I've been putting those really well as of late, so I felt very comfortable if you had to give myself 6 feet for par.
“I was like, okay, that frees me up a little on shot selection on chips and maybe using putter from off the green, that kind of stuff.”
At 1 under for the tournament, though, Spieth won't be a factor on Sunday.
"I kind of thought if I was perfect on the weekend, which is a lot to ask, that I'd maybe try to shoot 10 under on the weekend, and 7 would be a lot to ask for tomorrow," Spieth said. "If I went bogey-free today, I thought maybe I'd get four or five birdies."
