Jordan Spieth Fires 65 On Saturday, Carries 3-Shot Lead Into Final Round At The Open
Spieth has made it look easy all week long.
Jordan Spieth’s task on Saturday was to protect his lead at The Open and he did just that with his bogey-free 65 putting him at -11 for the championship.
Spieth was flawless on Saturday firing a 31 on the front nine which included consecutive birdies on seven and eight. He backed that up with a 34 on the back nine which featured birdies on the Par 5 15th and the Par 4 18th with a lengthy putt.
As for the conditions at Royal Birkdale on Saturday, well, they were absolutely perfect. The wind didn’t play a factor, and it was so sunny and calm the venue resembled more of a State-side event rather than one on the coast of the Irish Sea.
Nobody took better advantage of the great conditions than Branden Grace. The South African carded a 62, the lowest score ever at a major championship, besting the 31 previous rounds of 63 at a major. Grace got going early with a birdie at the first before managing to shoot a five-under 29 on the front. He told the media that he had no idea that that was the lowest round ever at all.
As for who is chasing Spieth atop the leaderboard, there is really only one man within real striking distance of the world №3 and that’s Matt Kuchar. Kuchar (-8) fired a strong 66 on Saturday and is three shots clear of Austin Connelly and Brooks Koepka, but he will need to put together a magical round on Sunday and hope for Spieth to stumble mightily to get his first career major win.
The final hole on Sunday was the best example of Spieth taking serious control of the tournament with his lengthy birdie while Kuchar wasn’t able to make his allowing Spieth to have a comfortable three-shot cushion heading into Sunday’s final round.
There is no doubt Spieth seems to be playing at an unbeatable level at the moment, but he’s been in this spot before in the 2016 Masters and we all remember that debacle. Spieth has sense learned from that experience and has a few more wins under his belt and tomorrow he could raise the Claret Jug for the first time in his young career.
If Spieth wins on Sunday he will join Jack Nicklaus as the only golfer under 24-years-old to win at least three legs of the Grand Slam.
