My Greatest Shot

Sometimes, moments of excellence marry perfectly with bravado – the occasion simply demands it.

There are countless examples across all sporting spheres and en route to ruling the roost at the The 146th Open at Royal Birkdale, Jordan Spieth produced a classic of the genre.

As so often is the case, it wasn’t just about what the American achieved on the par-five 15th but what he said after his stunning long-range putt arced beautifully into the hole.

With rapturous celebration exploding around him, the then 23-year-old pointed icily at his dispatched ball and uttered a three-word statement to his caddie that would earn a place in folklore – “go get that.”

Spieth conquers Royal Birkdale

Heading into The Open in 2017, Spieth’s career was on a near-vertical upward curve, chasing his third major and eventually putting himself in position to chase a career Grand Slam.

Having won both the Masters and the US Open in 2015, the Texas native was looking to bounce back from a disappointing showing in the big four in 2016, although he did come close to defending his Masters crown, finishing tied second.

But in July 2017, Spieth showed steel to become the cream of the crop at Royal Birkdale, entering the final round three shots clear of countryman Matt Kuchar.

It was far from plain sailing from then on out, Spieth recording three bogeys in his opening four holes before then getting into trouble on the par-four 13th, where he was forced to play a shot off the practice course en route to making par.

Nonetheless, Spieth continued his charge, making three more birdies and a dramatic eagle on the 15th, carding a 69 that saw him finish three shots clear of a relentless Kuchar.

A moment to savour

It’s hard to imagine that Spieth storming to glory without his heroic 48-foot eagle putt – and his boastful reaction.

Two holes earlier, the Texan had missed the fairway by some margin, taking that unplayable lie from the practice course.

But his momentum was given a shot in the arm by that first-pumping juncture – albeit, his moment of triumph was celebrated vocally, Spieth pointing to his sunken ball and telling caddie Michael Greller to “go get that”.

Get up and go

However, when the American reflected on that shot, he said that he was keen to move onto the next hole as quickly as possible, having taken more than 20 minutes – holding up rival Kuchar – during his ordeal on the 13th.

“I had been watching replays of The Open in the gym,” he said.

“There was a TV in there and they were playing old Opens. For whatever reason, it intrigued me earlier in the week that the guys, when they made putts, they never went and picked their ball out of the hole.

“The caddie went and got it on long putts and I guess that stuck in my head – ‘you don't have to pick the ball out of the hole. Michael can go get it.’

“Michael, when I looked over, he’s laughing. For whatever reason, I didn’t want to walk all the way up there. It was pretty far away.

“He started to walk toward the bag but I was already walking toward the bag and I was really intense at that point – ‘Michael, go get that!'

“It was half being serious, like: ‘go get it quickly because Kuch still needs to putt and we don’t need to drag this on. I’ve already been in his way too much the last couple of holes. Let’s not do that anymore’ and it was half intense — ‘pick that ball out of the hole’.”