Jordan Spieth Talks Travel, Being No. 1, Playing Augusta with Dad
Jordan Spieth is playing Pebble Beach this week but he’s thinking about Augusta National.
Jordan Spieth had quite a sit-down with the media at Pebble Beach. “It’s amazing what a solid week back here [will do for] rest and regeneration,” Spieth told the press at the AT&T, adding that he feels great after two-and-a-half months of world-wide travel. “My speeds are where they need to be, my rest is back, everything feels good.”
Having gone to the season-ending events, Australia and the Middle East events as No. 1, he said he now understands a little better the responsibilities that come with the ranking. He also enjoys the opportunities it brings in terms of meeting people he might not have been able to meet previously, like Dirk Nowitzki.
“I grew up living half a mile from him, and he was my sports hero growing up in Dallas. I had never met the guy,” Spieth explained. “A few weeks ago I got the opportunity to go down after the Mavs game and hang out with the players and take a picture with Dirk. And I thought that was pretty awesome. I think that that was maybe a — I wouldn’t say, that’s probably an advantage to the position we’re in, but with it come, responsibilities for sure.”
However, he acknowledged that a lot of golf had not been played during part of that time, and he knows there are challengers who want to get back to No. 1, like Rory McIlroy and Jason Day.
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“Obviously, when it first happened after the PGA Championship it was impactful,” he admitted. “But at the same time, now, having kind of held that for the last few months, given there hasn’t been a lot of tournament golf being played, as far as my responsibility with it, I don’t think it changes from anything that I’ve already done. I think that there’s just more of an interest in just kind of being nice to people.”
It also includes being able to share some special moments with family, like taking his dad Augusta National in December, which he said plays harder tee-to-green than in April.
“We actually had it at 75 degrees,” he said about the day. “The ball was actually flying further than it normally does that time of year. I’ve played it when it’s been 40 degrees and you can’t — you hit 4-iron to No. 1. In the tournament you hit 8-iron.”
And what is it about Augusta National that made a big impression on Jordan Spieth? Two things: the trophy itself and the locker room.
There’s actually a lot of people who don’t realize there’s a Masters trophy, and it’s huge, and it sits in the center of the room when you walk in the main clubhouse,” he explained.
"“And this year I was able to go back, pick out where it was where my name was on the runner-up, and then look one spot down and diagonal and there’s your name for winning it with the score. And that was really cool.”"
But there was more.
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“Then to even top that, walking up to the Champion’s Locker Room, the new Champion’s Locker Room, and to — I was always interested on who I was sharing my locker with, and I had not heard, and I walked up and saw my name with Mr. Palmer, which was pretty awesome,” he concluded.
He and hid dad had dinner at the club a couple of nights and enjoyed the display that recapped what happened in the 2015 Masters, which he found motivating for 2016.
However, Spieth doesn’t need much motivation for the tournament.
“I believe it’s the best tournament in the world. No disrespect to any other event, but I absolutely love that golf course, it is my favorite golf course in the world,” he said.
Jordan Spieth is not the first to say that and won’t be the last. But he waxed a little poetic with what it meant to him.
“The roars, the echos, the memories, the history from watching it growing up, being on the same golf course,” he added. “It’s just, you know, you have these different images from growing up watching that you may have on certain golf courses of other majors, but to have them all on that course, it just adds to the history of the tournament, and you want to be a part of it.”
He said the one shot he remembers is when Tiger Woods holed out at the 16th hole in 2005.
“That’s the greatest clutch shot chip. As many as he’s had, that was one that I’ve watched over and over and over again on YouTube on just how incredible it was. It was when there was rough there. It was just backed up against the collar of the rough,” he continued.
Spieth admitted he had a similar shot last year and messed it up.
“But that shot, I mean everyone in here knows about that shot,” he said. “I was probably 11 or 12 at that time, just starting to really pick golf as my number one sport and fall in love with it. And we were talking the other day and that shot, what it did for me was it made me want to go out that day, that evening, and go work on my short game. It was like, you know what, I want to go try and hit that shot right now. And I thought that was really cool.”
This week at the AT&T Pebble Beach, Jordan Spieth returns for several reasons. First he loves the courses and second he has a friend, musician Jake Owens, as a partner, and third, the tournament gave him an exemption his first year out when he had no status.
Next: Spieth Looking Ahead to the Masters
“It was my second professional start, and it’s really close to my heart. So you don’t have to convince me about this place,” Jordan Spieth concluded, wrapping up his session with the media.