“It's really hard to get me to chip out,” Spieth said after he opened with a hard-earned round of even-par 72 at Muirfield Village. "I chip out maybe less than anyone else that's every played the game of golf.
“It's demoralizing enough that I'll make a terrible decision not to.”
That's what he faced Thursday on the par-5 fifth hole after a tee shot that hit a tree and bounced slightly backward, creating a lie that went against the long blades of grass and left him a lie that was close to impossible.
What to do?
No commentary is necessary. Spieth provides that on his own.
“If it gets to the fairway, I can make 4,” he told Michael Greller, the caddie who has worked with him since the U.S. Junior in 2011. “Versus do I still make 5 if I can't get it to the fairway.”
The fairway was only 115 yards away — the lie was that bad. They reasoned that if he didn't carry it to the fairway, he'd have to lay up again because of water in front of the green. Spieth still figured he could get that up-and-down for par.
As he settled over the shot, Greller made one last pitch: “Why don't you hit it right there?” he said to Spieth, indicating a chip-out to the left.
“I don't want to hit it right there,” Spieth said. “Because I'm hitting good shots, and they're getting absolutely boned so far, so I can't accept it.”
No one can fault Greller for trying to talk some safe sense into him, and this wasn't the first time. Spieth is aware of that.
“His hands are tied on some of those,” Spieth after his round, and then revisited that shot on the fifth hole. “I didn't think I was going to be able to reach the fairway, and I talked him into ... I could still make par either way. The reality was eight of 10 (times), I'm not going to cover. I should punch it out.”
He hammered it. The ball caught the first cut and barely made it back to the fairway. That left him 128 yards to the hole, and his third shot was 25 feet below the hole.
Spieth holed the putt, of course.
“It actually got to the fairway and I made birdie,” he said, “which doesn't help the whole cause.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf