Jordan Spieth played 18 holes at Oakmont on Sunday then went out for nine holes on Monday with Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy and Smylie Kaufman. Afterward, he did the traditional defending champion’s duty and met with the assembled press.
Here are some of Spieth’s thoughts with two days to go before the start of the 116th U.S. Open:
On the possible winning score:
“I don’t think anyone’s gonna be in the red come 72 holes.”
Later, he amended that a bit as there is a strong possibility of rain on Thursday and Friday:
“If storms come through, it will make it a lot easier. Rain, that would produce more under par scores.”
On Oakmont’s treacherous putting surfaces:
“Pretty similar (to Augusta). You can’t let your mind slip on these greens for one moment. People are going to three-putt this week.”
On the difficulty of the finishing holes:
“Literally anything can happen. If you don’t hit the fairways on the last four or five holes, you can lose a four or five-shot lead.”
On patience:
“One round takes the patience of two normal rounds.”
On his preparation for this and other majors:
“I put in more time in preparation. Extra time practicing. Cameron (McCormick) is with me. A lot of it (the preparation) is mental. Shorter days after the tournament starts.
Importance of accuracy off the tees:
“Hitting fairways is most important for me. I looked at ’07 and a lot of the top 10 were 50 percent on hitting fairways. I can’t fathom that.”
On the Oakmont rough:
“Really tough but fair. It is graduated enough where a slight miss is playable. Big miss and you’ve got real trouble.”
On how he feels:
“A week off and I’ve got my legs back under me. I haven’t felt like a defending champion. Feels like a normal event.”
The only really annoying question of the afternoon came from a Japanese media member. He asked Spieth about Hideki Matsuyama and if he has improved.
Of course the guy should realize that PGA Tour players could give a rat’s ass about the improvement of other players, they only care about their own improvement but Spieth was a diplomat, complimented Matsuyama’s game and told said press member that Hideki has the game to contend.
Overall, a routine round for Jordan Spieth.
Now he can go back to his pre-tournament preparation.
