Jordan Spieth’s wife Annie happily ran up to the golfer for a hug after his win at the RBC Heritage event in South Carolina on Sunday. Without her, he might not have deserved the win.
Jordan credited Annie for the advice she gave him Saturday night after he missed an 18-inch putt for par on the final hole of the third round.
“I was more excited than I’ve ever been at a golf tournament after yesterday’s round,” Spieth told reporters after winning a playoff against Patrick Cantlay to emerge victorious from a tightly packed leaderboard.
“Annie told me last night, ‘You need 5 seconds now’ – and she never comments on my golf – ‘You need 5 seconds if you miss a putt before you hit your tap-in.’ So, I was thinking about this today. There were a couple of times I just wanted to rake it, and I was like, no, I have to last 5 seconds.
Jordan Spieth bounces up and down the first playoff hole to defeat Patrick Cantlay. Getty Images
Spieth has become notorious over the years for missing putts that would be a gift to even the most average Sunday golfer. However, this week it came while he was in competition.
Spieth fought his way back into the rankings thanks to two eagles on the front nine and his birdie at 18, which propelled him to the top of the rankings with many other contenders still on the court. Cantlay was the only one able to keep up with him, but after both golfers put it in the front bunker on the first playoff hole, only Spieth could come and go after a brilliant bunker shot.
Annie greeted him with the couple’s five-month-old son Sammy in tow. Spieth, 28, said some qualities with the baby helped put things in perspective ahead of the finals.
“That turned around a lot for me (Saturday night), I was just hanging out with him and this morning,” said Spieth, who netted $1.4 million with the win.
“Even this morning I kicked myself [for that missed putt]. I thought about it all night. Just how, how am I supposed to get that back? It just takes your mind off things and puts them where they should be, which is in the moment of hanging out. I really enjoyed that very much. We had a great time spending the mornings with him and we have our dog here too. It was a great time.”