‘One of my better pars’ – Jordan Spieth escapes from impossible position in a bush as fans are stunned
Jordan Spieth had golf fans purring with an incredible piece of improvisation from a bush at the Phoenix Open.
The American got himself into a spot of bother on the 11th hole at TPC Scottsdale when he sliced his ball into the trees.
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With the pressure on to keep up with the leaders, Spieth played the shot left-handed with a putter, and what followed was simply magic.
Spieth's kick-out squeezed past another shrub and back onto the fairway, leaving him just 128 yards to the hole.
The 31-year-old former Masters champion knocked his approach shot to 12 feet and had no issues with his par putt.
“One of the better pars I’ve ever made, to be honest,” Spieth said.
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“I couldn't get to it right-handed. It was going to be too hard. My hands were going to have to stop well short of the ball, and it wasn't until like the last second because I thought about left-handed, but I thought about left-handed with like an iron up to the side.
“It wasn't until the last second I was like, ‘I've got a flat spot on the back of my putter I can at least nudge it up here, it's better than an unplayable,’ and dodged the bush.
“I somehow made par. That was a steal.”
Fans watching the shot were left marvelling at Spieth's brilliance.
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"Golf is better with Jordan Spieth is playing well. No more evident with that par," one fan said.
"Hahahaha what an all-time par save from Jordan Spieth," another added.
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"Jordan Spieth doing Jordan Spieth things. There’s no better player to watch on the PGA Tour. Great to see him back in contention after the wrist surgery," this fan said.
"Jordan Spieth is so back," another posted.
Spieth is searching for his first title since the 2022 RBC Heritage having battled injuries for the best part of two years.
He underwent wrist surgery last summer but aggravated it in the first round of last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“All in all, it was a big progress week for me,” Spieth added.
“I didn't feel like this was a one-off. It felt like this is just trending the right direction. I'm pretty realistic with myself on that. My expectations have been low, like I've mentioned. Just trying to get a little bit better each time.
“I had certainly less than 100% of my potential this week as far as structure and what I'm trying to do. I hit a lot of good putts today that didn't go in.
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“All in all, I've got some stuff to improve on significantly within tee-to-green and on the greens, and the fact that this is where I'm at right now is really cool.
“It's a little bit of a monkey off the back, a little bit of a weight lifted off my shoulders, just feeling like I have a little bit of house money now, which I play a little bit better from. Everybody I think does.
“I'd like to take it into a strong next week and then start working myself more consistently into contention.”
Spieth finished the Phoenix Open in a tie for fourth on 16-under-par.
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Despite a decent final round, Spieth was no match for champion Thomas Detry with the Belgian carding a final round 65 to claim glory at 24-under.
But Spieth will take a lot of confidence from his showing on Arizona and will hope to continue his good form at The Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines this week.
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