Late slide sees Jordan Spieth lose some control of FedExCup destiny
CARMEL, Ind. — Jordan Spieth had momentum in his hands Saturday late in his third round of the BMW Championship.
Then he let his destiny slip away.
Spurred by a brilliant front nine and then his 14th hole-out of the year, which came from 30 yards and produced an eagle on the 11th hole, Spieth was rolling up the leaderboard at soggy Crooked Stick Golf Club. A birdie on the 15th got him to the first page of the leaderboard and in the top five.
Then he went to the 17th tee box.
Instead of polishing off a gem of a round, Spieth made bogeys on the final two holes and shot a 4-under-par 68 that dropped him into a tie for ninth place, 10 shots back of leader Dustin Johnson, who followed his course-record 63 on Friday with a 68 to move to 18 under. He is three clear of Paul Casey (68) and four clear of J.B. Holmes (68).
The poor finish by Spieth also jeopardizes his chances of getting into the top five in the FedExCup Playoffs standings heading into the postseason finale in two weeks at The Tour Championship by Coca-Cola in Atlanta.
Spieth is the defending champion of both The Tour Championship and the FedExCup. With two wins this year, he’s in good position to defend his FedExCup title. He would have been in better position if not for the bogeys.
Spieth is seventh in the standings right now. The top five in the standings at Atlanta will automatically win the FedExCup and the $10 million bonus if they were to win The Tour Championship. Anyone else in the field has to get help even if they do win at East Lake Golf Club.
That was Spieth’s goal at the beginning of the week.
That will be his goal at the beginning of Sunday’s final round.
“It was a round of what could have been,” said Spieth, who walked straight to the putting green after signing his scorecard. “It really could have been a 7- or 8-under in this wind and it was one of those special rounds that ended up being 4-under. But I feel really good about where everything's at. I'm putting the ball nicely, my stroke's where I want it to be, I just didn't adjust to the fact that they were about a foot slower today.”
Spieth was disappointed with his 72 in the second round as he tried to dial in his swing. On Saturday, he found his swing on the range.
“My short game felt like it was there, and I was searching on my swing. I figured out that I got into the tendency I typically do get into when it's really wet out, which is I get a little lazy in my load on my backswing,” Spieth said. “So I found that out on the practice range today and I struck the ball beautifully today. Two chip-ins, which obviously helps. Putter just went cold for me. And it wasn't bad strokes, I left everything just short.”
And now he might come up just short of the top five in the FedExCup standings.
Spieth isn’t the only player looking at the top five.
Presently, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed are comfortably in the top two spots in the projected standings, respectively. Then Jason Day is third, Adam Scott fourth and Paul Casey fifth. Rory McIlroy is sixth and Spieth is seventh.
Scott moved up with birdies on his last two holes.
“We all know what happens if you do stay in the top five and you win at East Lake, nothing can stop you from winning the FedExCup,” Scott said. “You would be pretty unlucky if you were sixth and won East Lake and didn't win the FedExCup, but it's possible. So if you rule out one variable, that's a good thing. I would like to stay in the top five and good play takes care of that and that's all I have to think about.
“ … It's hard. It changes hole to hole and it's impossible to think of when you're playing. For me, at least birdieing the last two holes today lets me go to bed thinking I might have a chance to win a golf tournament with a great round tomorrow and that feels a lot better than thinking that I have no chance and I would just look for the best finish possible.”