Michael Greller, a math teacher in a former life, is, in fact, much like what you think a math teacher is like in his current role. Jordan Spieth’s bagman is a numbers man. There is no hyperbole here.
Adjectives are not tossed around.
But when they are, you click on stories entitled: “Was this Jordan Spieth’s best-ever bunker shot? Even Michael Greller says yes.” You know it has the goods. So here we all are.
Jordan Spieth says this is the best shot he ever hit
Let’s set the scene. Spieth was in contention at the WM Phoenix Open, but, with three birdies and two bogeys during Saturday’s third round, he was treading water. On the bally-hooed, stadium-seating, par-3 16th, he hit 40 feet past the hole, was booed, and he two-putted. On the par-4 17th, his tee shot was poorer.
The penultimate hole at TPC Scottsdale is risk-reward fun. You can drive it. But it’s a squeeze. On the left side of the green and behind it is water; Sahith Theegala found it last year while contending on the final day. There are five fairway bunkers. Spieth found the one on the right.
And he was 77 yards away, that odd distance from the sand that gives your 14-handicap friend the sweats.
And his pin was also in the back back.
And his green started sloping toward the hole — and the water — in the middle.
That was a lot of additions. Spieth and Greller and you started doing the math.
It’s here where we’ll note that if you were watching from home, you did not see it. CBS stayed with the final grouping of Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Adam Hadwin on 16, and Hadwin’s near-ace, and Rahm’s 40-foot putt birdie putt and the crazies’ trash party. But there was a 15-word hint. The broadcast switched over to Spieth putting for birdie.
“This was after a bunker shot,” analyst Mark Immelman said, “that Michael Greller called the best he’s ever seen.”
TPC Scottsdale’s 16th was a little flat Saturday. Then the final group saved it
Come again?
Afterward, there was another tease. Spieth’s press conference started this way:
“You were really challenged after the three-putt at 11 and you respond by playing the rest of the golf course in three-under par. Giving you a chance on Sunday.”
“Yeah, that was pretty much the day,” Spieth said. “I made one on 1, and I thought I’m just going to continue what I started with this morning finishing the second round. Then played 11 holes or so in two-over with no birdies. Just felt like I never really had any chances. I was long on some holes, short on some holes. It was really nice. I thought the last four holes were going to play harder today than any other day. I just wanted to play them one-under. So to grab an extra one there on 17 was certainly a bonus. Coming in with a better chance tomorrow.”
“A bonus is an understatement. It’s one of the better bunker shots I’ve ever seen. 77 yards. A little bit long. If the ball doesn’t grab, it can go down to the red line and penalty area.”
“Yeah, I could drop a bucket of balls and not hit another one inside of 10 feet,” Spieth said. “But I was in that bunker in the first round, and I hit a great shot to a tucked right pin. I feel like it’s a strength of my game, is those kind of in-between bunker shots that are normally some of the most challenging shots in golf. For whatever reason, I just feel comfortable in the uncomfortable in those kind of situations. It was nice for it to get within five feet, making that birdie putt quite a bit easier. But I was really just trying to leave it up on top of the hill, and if it happened to get the firm bounce it would be perfect and that’s what happened.”
Not hit another bucket of balls closer? Folks were getting restless for proof, outside of the couple thousand in Scottsdale who may have had an eye on it.
One had a phone on it. And a couple hours after Spieth hit the shot, the Spieth Legion Twitter account shared a video of it.
His ball was about 5 feet in the bunker. The ball landed about 30 feet short of the hole, just as the downslope began, checked slightly and rolled to 3 feet.
“Oh yeah!” a nearby fan yelled.
“Yeahhhh!”
“Yeahhhhhhh!”
Shortly afterward, in real time, Greller then talked to Immelman.
