This time, it seemed certain that Jordan Spieth waited too late.
That thing he usually does when he most needs it, that invisible switch he flips, must have been on the fritz.
Dallas’ Spieth trailed PGA Championship leader Jason Day by six strokes Saturday at Whistling Straits and had only eight third-round holes left in which to claw within feasible striking range entering Sunday’s final round.
Voila. Spieth said that on the 11th tee he angrily told himself, “Let’s kill this.” The 343 yard drive set up his first birdie since the opening hole and obviously was the switch that flung open the levee.
Spieth birdied six of his final eight holes. His 7-under 65 made him 13-under for the tournament, two strokes behind leader Day, with whom Spieth will play in Sunday’s final pairing, at 1:45 p.m.
“When I think of this being the last major of the year, it’s a little bit of a sad feeling because I really thoroughly enjoy playing in majors,” Spieth said.
No kidding. Spieth won the Masters in April. He won the U.S. Open in June. Last month he tied for fourth in the British Open and now he’s positioned to join Tiger Woods (2000) and Fort Worth’s Ben Hogan (1953) as the only male golfers to win three majors in a calendar year.
Moreover, a victory Sunday would make Spieth the only male player to win the three United States-based majors in a calendar year.
“Just to try to get my name on the (PGA’s) Wanamaker Trophy, that’s about it,” Spieth said. “That’s the only history I’ll be thinking of when we step on the first tee, is ‘You can hoist that trophy and make it happen.’ ”