Jordan Spieth rues 'poor play' on US Open defence
Last Updated: 19/06/16 11:44pm
Defending champion Jordan Spieth said playing the easy holes badly cost him dear at the US Open at Oakmont Country Club.
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<a href='http://www.skysports.com/golf/scorecard/1536/us-open' class='instorylink'>US Open</a>
The 22-year-old claimed the title at Chambers Bay last year to record back-to-back major titles and despite making the cut in Pennsylvania he never got in a position to trouble the head of the leaderboard.
A final round of 75 was his worst round of the week and he ended up nine-over par alongside Masters champion Danny Willett and he admitted that he wasn't at his best making him force the issue as he tried to get his rounds going.
"I was just trying to do a little too much. Instead of just firing a straight ball at the hole [the sixth], trying to bleed some big cutter in, and I just double crossed it," said Spieth.
"From there, the pin is actually located on a pretty tough little spot, where if you hit your first putt too hard, then you're left with a little bit of trouble. So I just got into some putting trouble today and couldn't quite get it going on the front nine.
"The story of my week is just playing the easy holes poorly. You know, 11, 14, and 2, to play it whatever I played them, 7 or 8 over, on those holes the leaders are playing them under par. Funny thing is I felt like I didn't have my game this week. If I play the easy holes at even par, I'm still top 5.
Elsewhere Brooks Koepka lit up the early afternoon on Sunday with a dazzling run of six birdies and an eagle in a an eight hole run that had Johnny Miller's legendary Oakmont mark of 63 under serious threat.
Unfortunately for the American having begun with two bogeys and ended with four which meant his round added up to a two-under par 68 and a case of what might have been as he finished at four-over-par.
"I felt like I knew where I was. I figured if we could grab three or four more coming in, I felt like if we post 2 or 3 under, we'd be right there," he said.
"But I felt like I got kind of a bad break on 17. And the other ones, we didn't hit the fairway. I mean, out here, if you're not going to hit the fairway, you're going to make some bogeys.
"I knew that [Miller's record]. I was hoping for something even lower. I was hoping for 60, 61. I thought that was pretty obtainable.
"The 4 iron we hit in the bunker on the par 3, what is that, 14? That was just an awful tee shot. You put that one in the fairway, you're making a good run. But it is what it is. I was hoping to post something lower.
"It's a hard golf course. You've got to drive the ball well if you want to play here. We didn't drive the ball well all week.
"These greens are tricky. You get above the hole, you're so defensive. You're worried about running it five feet by into another slope and catching that slope and going 30 feet. If you put yourself in the wrong spot here, you're in some serious trouble off the tee. And then when you get in the greens, you're not done at all."
