Jordan Spieth is the indomitable. Three over par through four holes at The Australian today, he refused to let his round unravel. By day's end, he had tapped in for birdie at the 18th and a 67, leaving him in the last group for tomorrow's climax of the Emirates Australian Open.
He is in with a great chance of defending his Open title, up against Matt Jones, whom he thought all week would be tough to beat, his practice partner in the lead-up.
"It's one of the best-fought rounds that I've had that I can remember,'' said Spieth, who made bogeys at the first, third and fourth holes, where he knocked his approach into the pond on the right of the green.
"(I was) completely out of sync, just lazy in my decision making and my swings,'' he said.
Photos From the 2015 Emirates Australian Open
-
"I just told him that was one of the best-fought wins I've ever seen, to come through what he did on 2, 9 and then that par he made on 12," Jordan said about Matt Jones' performance on Sunday
-
Jordan reacts to his second shot on the 72nd hole of the tournament. It would give him an eagle putt attempt to win, or extend, the Emirates Australian Open
-
Jordan and Michael celebrate the day's turnaround
-
Jordan reacts after holing his approach shot. He would add a tap-in birdie on 18 to go three-under on the final two holes
-
As the TV announcers noted, his shot was on the flag the entire way, and you could tell from his body language while the ball was in the air that he really liked it
-
After bogeys on three of the first four holes, Jordan said that a talk with his caddie helped him refocus. "He said: 'Enough of this crap. No bad self-talk. Let's hit some greens, you've got some easy holes coming up'. That's all I really needed to hear to help turn it around.''
-
After a three-under round of 68, Jordan remains four back from second round leader Matt Jones
-
Jordan acknowledges the crowd after his birdie putt on the seventh hole
-
For the second day in a row, the fluky winds made life difficult for Jordan. "It's the cross winds,'' he said. "It's a guessing game. You really have a 50-50 shot."
-
In blustery conditions reminiscent of 2014, the Masters and U.S. Open champion made three birdies and three bogeys in what he called “pretty boring golf”
-
Jordan hits his approach shot on the 12th hole
-
"It’s been a while since I’ve played in wind like this. The toughest part is deciding what shot to hit. It’s hard to pick the shot. You can use the same club and end up with a 30-yards difference based on if you hold the ball up or ride the wind," Jordan said after his opening round
-
Jordan eyes the ball after his bunker shot in the Wednesday pro-am
-
Jordan and Australian cricket legend Shane Warne check out a cricket bat on the first tee of the pro-am
-
Jordan hosted a golf clinic for 60 junior Australian golfers ahead of the 2015 Emirates Australian Open
-
The camera caught a pretty funny moment when Jordan attempted a flop shot. Watch the video
-
The clinic was sponsored by Under Armour Australia and Golf Australia
-
In his comments to the press after his practice round, Jordan talked about playing the sand belt courses in Australia. Read more
-
Jordan and his coach, Cameron McCormick, talk over the course
-
A focused Jordan returns to defend his title at The Australia Golf Course, home of the 2015 Emirates Australia Open
It was a mini-spray from caddie Michael Greller that turned it. After Spieth walked back to the fifth tee to hit his driver, he met Greller back down the fairway where the bagmen were waiting.
"Michael did a great of setting the goal for me there,'' he said. "I hit my tee shot on five and when I got to the fairway he met me there and said: 'Right, let's get to even par for the day by the time we step on 18 tee box. That way we can shoot under par and move on'. He said: 'Enough of this crap. No bad self-talk. Let's hit some greens, you've got some easy holes coming up'. That's all I really needed to hear to help turn it around.''
From that point, he was seven under. Yet he was back in the pack until he slapped a long iron tee shot at the par-four 17th down the fairway, leaving himself 170 metres to a flag cut on the front with hardly any landing room. Spieth his his high fade with an eight iron; it landed on the front edge, hopped a couple of times, and disappeared for an eagle.
Suddenly he was within a shot of the lead. "I flushed it and I looked up and it was right on line,'' he said later. "I was just hoping ... if that lands three yards farther it takes a hop and a good chance it's off the green there. It's such a tough pin to go at.''