Jordan Spieth hopes cutting out slow play will help him play better

Spieth plans to spend less time chatting to his caddie

It’s often easy to assume that tour players are oblivious to conversations that centre around them. For several months now, there has been plenty of talk about Jordan Spieth’s pace of play. Spieth has been put on the clock numerous times, and was lucky to escape a penalty at this year’s Masters, where he took more than two minutes to hit a shot on numerous occasions.

But Spieth is fully aware of what’s been said, and he has decided to do something about it. 

“I noticed, and I’d get plenty of comments on it from other people,” said Spieth. “But Cameron [swing coach Cameron McCormick] also mentioned, ‘Hey, I think you’re going to play better if you just step up and swing’. So I’m trying to do a bit of that.”

Spieth actually feels that a brisker pace may help him play better golf. 

“The quicker part actually helps me because then I just get up there and fire away,” said 22-year-old Spieth. “The more I can do that, actually I think the better off [I am with a] kind of gun-slinging mentality, just to go up and hit the way I always have played.”

Spieth’s intention is not to rush his shots, but adopt a leaner, less cluttered pre-shot routine that doesn’t allow doubt or uncertainty to creep in. 

Spieth’s speedier routine helped him to a T-3 finish at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, a marked improvement on his two previous finishes, T-57 at the Memorial Tournament and T-37 at the U.S. Open.