Jordan Spieth unfazed by Masters collapse as he prepares for Players Championship
Thursday 12 May 2016 17:31, UK
Jordan Spieth believes he has put his dramatic Masters collapse behind him, but is working hard on his swing to avoid suffering a similar fate in future pressure situations.
Defending champion Spieth held a five-shot lead with nine holes to play at Augusta National in April, only to bogey the 10th and 11th and then take a quadruple-bogey seven on the 12th, where he hit two balls into the water.
The world No 2 has not played competitively since, but returns to action in this week's Players Championship at Sawgrass, the so-called "fifth major" which also features a famous par-three - the 17th - which is surrounded by water.
"I said throughout the week (at Augusta) that I was not striking the ball very well," said Spieth.
"My miss, given where my club was positioned, was short and right and that's okay at Augusta on almost every other hole. On 12 and 13 it doesn't really work well.
"I was picking the right shot (on the 12th), maybe just hit it a little thin off the heel, maybe lifted up a little early.
"That kind of mistake could have happened any other day, it wasn't like the moment was what caused it because I'd been in that moment many times already and succeeded, and had failures. Both are going to come.
"It was the wrong miss so what do we do? We go to the drawing board and figure out how to get my swing to the consistent level it was at during the second half of last year.
Live PGA Tour Golf
"From the US Open, John Deere (Classic), Open Championship and through into the US PGA my swing was exactly where we wanted it and so we've been working hard to try to get to that position.
"It got off whenever and I haven't really been able to trust it at that level since then.
"But I put in a lot of good hard work on the driving range and it's there right now, it's just a matter of being able to trust it on the golf course with trouble around, which may not happen right away, but it's getting closer."
Watch the Players Championship on Sky Sports. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 4 HD at 6pm on Thursday.
