Global Golf Post, July 24, 2017

globalgolfpost com JULY 24 2017 Read more from The Posts writers globalgolfpost com now THE TAKE RON GREEN JR E MAIL RON Belief Sets Spieth Apart SOUTHPORT ENGLAND Go get that How beautiful was that Three words A 50 foot eagle putt A finger point And a Claret Jug for Jordan Spieth Wonder what it is the great ones have that makes them different Spieth showed the world Sunday at grand old Royal Birkdale where the great ones before him have won the silver jug he kissed early in the evening They can reach into a pit of snakes and pull out a diamond They flirt with the devil and marry an angel They defy gravity When Spieth stared his eagle putt into the cup at the 15th hole in the final round gently backpedaling as it mortally wounded Matt Kuchars quest to win his first major championship he pointed at caddie Michael Greller and told him to fetch his Titleist It came Spieth admitted from watching film of long ago Open Championships during his down time last week and the reaction just came to him in the moment At that point considering the free fall hed just come out of Spieth wasnt entirely sure what he was doing Go get that Four days before his 24th birthday Spieth could have been talking to the golf world when he said it The message couldnt be more clear if it were spelled out in the sky The golf universe fell back into orbit at Birkdale The last time Spieth had such a good chance to win a major championship he lost a five stroke lead with nine holes to play in the 2016 Masters a quadruple bogey at the par 3 12th the logo of his collapse And it felt like it was happening again only in slower motion The world was thinking it So was Spieth He owns the reputation as being a cutthroat closer Give him the 54 hole lead on the PGA Tour and its generally safe to cancel Sundays round But in majors Spieth had carried the 54 hole lead into Sunday four times and won twice Not bad but the 16 Masters carried ghosts Spieth doubted himself The narrative of his career was about to change There were going to be dents in the golden child as his buddies call him Before the round I thought I have a reputation as being able to close but I was hesitant in saying majors to myself Spieth said I put a lot of pressure on myself unfortunately and not on purpose before the round today just thinking this is the best opportunity that Ive had since the 16 Masters And if it werent to go my way today then all Im going to be questioned about and thought about and murmured about is in comparison to that and that adds a lot of pressure to me After four holes it was even more so By that time it was apparent Spieth was chasing his swing and his mojo For three days Spieth looked like a man in control It was apparent in the way he walked and talked He didnt just lean into the wind when it blew he leaned into the game and it earned him a three stroke Saturday night lead When his opening tee shot buried in a tangle of thick grass Spieth barked about his luck Four holes into the final round Spieth had made three bogeys one fewer than in his first three rounds combined On the seventh tee with Spieth two shots ahead of Kuchar again Greller pulled his man aside A former middle school teacher Greller understands the value of a well placed message He sent Spieth back to a vacation he took in Mexico for the Fourth of July where he spent time with Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps among others You belong in that group Greller told Spieth He said Youre that caliber athlete but I need you to believe that This is a new tournament Were starting over here Spieth needed another reset after his wild bogey at the 13th hole put him behind Kuchar for the first time It happened organically When Spieth won The Masters and U S Open and fell one stroke short in the Open Championship in 2015 he was suddenly the games transcendent player He spent 2016 trying to do what hed done the year before and struggled to accept that he couldnt More than Spieth needing to win another major championship he couldnt accept losing this Open Championship the way it appeared he might There is a uniqueness to Spieth and its not just his mildly unconventional swing He plays with a rare passion which explains his on course chatter Hes almost clinically analytic in his approach to each shot each hole each tournament but unlike most analytic players Spieth is also an artist He truly plays the game where others try to execute shots Its the beauty of Spieth Its what has put him in such rare company at such a young age Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps are the greatest to ever do what they did and Im not Spieth said But if you believe that you are then youre almost as good as being that And its so hard in that situation to believe that but just having just the slightest bit of belief in it makes you so confident Go get that l More than Spieth needing to win another major championship he couldnt accept losing this Open Championship the way it appeared he might Jordan Spieth