PEBBLE BEACH, California – A swing brought Jordan Spieth closer than ever to ending a long and mysterious fall, and served as a reminder that he still has a long way to go on the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Two kicks back with three holes to play on Saturday, Spieth made the hole with a 160 yard 8 iron for the Eagle on the 16th hole, the start of an impressive turnaround that led to a 1 under 71 lead and 2 kicks going for the final round.
Daniel Berger helped by moving from a part of the lead to 2 shots behind, when his opening shot on par 5 18 was off the field by mere inches and led to a double bogey.
“It’s a good lesson for tomorrow, how fast things can change here,” said Spieth.
The timing was ideal for Spieth, who has not won worldwide in his 79 previous events since winning the 2017 British Open at the Royal Birkdale.
He led two shots on the curve, only to miss the green and bogey on the 10th and 12th, and then he jumped from a hard wedge to a rear pin on par 5 14 that spun from the green to another bogey.
The pin on the 16th was cut to the left on a severely sloping green and was perfect.
“With the wind coming from the right and a little mud from the right side of the ball, I knew I could throw it to the right and let the wind and mud do most of the work,” said Spieth. “In the air, I thought it was going to be very good. It was one of the only scenes that I kind of said, ‘Oh, be good’, today. Certainly a bonus for him to fall. “
Those moments used to happen when Spieth was winning all the time. This was the second time this week that he left the field and is now about to win again. Spieth was 13 and under 203 with many contenders behind him.
Berger called an official for a linear measurement of his ball on the 18th, against the hedges, but inside the white discs that mark off the field. He still had a 72 and was 2 shots behind.
“I’m still 2 strokes from the lead, so I feel very good about my chances of going tomorrow and doing a few more strokes and it will be a good week,” he said.
Patrick Cantlay, whose third assault started promising when he hit 8 feet for the eagle, birdied on 18th to 70 and joined Berger 2 shots out of the lead. Tom Hoge (68) and Russell Knox (69) were also 2 shots behind.
This is the second consecutive week that Spieth has at least part of the leadership. A week ago, at the Phoenix Open, he failed to make any putts and closed with a 72 to finish 2 strokes ago.
Even so, this is considered hard work – seven consecutive rounds with a good score, and this week doing this keeping the ball in play.
Spieth expects nerves, as usual. He is as excited about the process as he is about the position.
“I don’t really care about the time period,” he said of the 43-month drought. “I’m actually going to throw this out of my head, because I’m finally doing things consistently over the past two weeks that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I think, obviously, the more you continue to do that, the jumps go their way, like the hole out today on the 16th.
“Someone can do this to me tomorrow or come and shoot 64 or something. I mean, it’s golf and it’s Pebble Beach. ”
Spieth’s goal was to set a goal and go for it, realizing that his game was not yet as complete as when he was winning frequently and competing regularly in major championships.
“It’s working in that direction, but it’s still not there,” he said. “I’m just trying to make it look a little better than it was yesterday.”
Jason Day was very much in the mix too, after a 68 left him in the group at 10-under 206.
Paul Casey was 3 strokes behind with a big chance on the 18th, when his initial shot fell on the rocks, but he had a lie flat enough that he could hit the rock back into the field. He shot 71.
Maverick McNealy had a 69 that included a penalty behind the fifth green when his ball moved to the right when he placed the club behind the ball.
Spieth did not have to face what he predicted to be a “bad” day on Pebble Beach. The weather forecast had passed when he left. The strong wind was yet another strong breeze along the ocean’s holes that Pebble gets all the time, although it was no less challenging to get back to him in the last nine.
No rain was forecast, just the typical Pacific wind on a course where everything can change quickly.