PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas have a bit of a history together at Riviera Country Club. Both have played the Genesis Invitational here throughout their pro careers, but their time competing at the storied club dates back to their college days. Specifically, the 2012 NCAA National Championship.
That year, Spieth’s Texas Longhorns and Thomas’ Alabama Crimson Tide met in the championship match. As luck would have it, the friends were matched up against one another in one of five matches between the teams.
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The match was tightly contested throughout, but Spieth got the better of his old pal, closing out Thomas 3 and 2 on the way to Texas claiming the national championship. The most pivotal shot Spieth struck that day was a 4-iron on the long par-4 15th, which he holed from the fairway to all but assure a victory.
Ten years (and four majors between the two) later, the shot is a distant memory. But Spieth’s caddie, Michael Greller, still won’t let Thomas hear the end of it.
“Michael FaceTimes him every single time on the 15th hole,” Spieth said this week. “He asked when we were walking up 15 [this week] if he should FaceTime him now even though he was two groups behind us. Justin answered it for a few years, and now he just either answers it flipping him off or he doesn’t answer it at all.”
Despite Thomas’ best efforts to ignore the calls though, Greller has figured out a work around.
“Now he FaceTime[s] Bones and then he gets me that way,” Thomas said. “He’s sneaky.”
Thomas has gotten the better of Spieth thus far this week, sitting two strokes ahead of his friend at 11 under through 36 holes. But no matter how the rest of the week goes, one thing is certain — each time Spieth plays 15 this weekend, Greller will be picking up the phone and FaceTiming Thomas’ (or Bones’) phone.