Jordan Spieth not focused on history but on winning formula for U.S. Open

Published Jun. 21, 2015 1:56 a.m. ET

foxsports

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. -- In April, Jordan Spieth had a date with destiny. He cruised to his first major championship title in record fashion at the Masters. On Father's Day, Spieth will attempt to etch his name in the history books again. Spieth has a chance to do what only five golfers before him have done -- win the first two legs of the Grand Slam.

It is a feat achieved by an exclusive fraternity of Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951, 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972), and, most recently, Tiger Woods (2002).

Spieth is 18 holes away after shooting a 1-over 71 to share the 54-hole lead with three other golfers in the 115th U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. But if Spieth is to be believed, his run at history won't add to the pressure he faces tomorrow. But it's got to affect him a little, right?

"None," he said, "other than I feel like we have a winning formula to close the deal in a major championship."

At the outset of his third round, it looked like Spieth had the potential to run away with the tournament. He poured in a 38-foot birdie putt at the second and a 41-footer at No. 3 to open up a three-stroke lead over his closest competitors.

But he bogeyed three of the next four holes and had only one par in his first seven holes. It almost got worse at the par-5 eighth when he hit driver off the tee and voiced his displeasure with a bad bounce.

"I was appalled, was the word I used. I couldn't place the drive any better," he said. "I thought my ball was in the middle of the fairway, and when I saw it on the right edge, I said, 'Mike (his caddie), I don't know how it got over the right edge.' And then we walked up and it was Patrick's. And I was hitting in the rough and there was a clump of grass behind it. This is a joke. Right after a three-putt. So that didn't add to my excitement."

Neither did a bogey at the ninth by Spieth to tour the front side in 1-over par. The round -- and possibly the tournament -- was in danger of slipping away until he made a crucial two-putt par from 48 feet at the 10th.

"We were bleeding, losing momentum," caddie Michael Greller said. "If that doesn't go in ..."

He didn't need to say more. Spieth battled back and regained a share of the lead with a 9-foot birdie putt at 15. He missed a bunch of opportunities to make birdies on the closing holes. It was one of the rare days where Spieth's putter was more foe than friend.

"I had four three-putts today, and that's going to happen out here," said Spieth, who counted eight three-whacks for the week. "Realizing that is part of how you move on quickly. But two of them are unforced and shouldn't have happened. The one on 12 and the one on 4 -- there's not a whole lot I could have done about it on 4, and 12 is about a 60-yard putt -- I'm OK with those. But the other two were unforced on the greens."

Perhaps Spieth won't arrive at the practice-putting green three hours before his tee time tomorrow. He'll set his game plan after checking the hole locations and watching the early television coverage. He's prepared to have to play the 18th hole as a par 4, the one he called "the dumbest hole ever."

He said he could play it down the first hole and have a good angle. But his real preference?

"I hope to be able to hit a 6-iron off that tee, but that would mean things would have to go very well before that," he said.

If so, he would be the youngest to win the championship since Bobby Jones in 1923 as well as the youngest to win two career majors since Gene Sarazen in 1922. Anytime you're on the verge of doing something that hasn't been achieved in over 90 years, you know it's special. But once again, Spieth downplayed its significance.

"I don't think of age having anything to do with it," said Spieth, who turns 22 in about a month. "I think we're all peers tomorrow, and there's four of us tied for a lead."

Of those four at 4-under -- Jason Day, Branden Grace and Dustin Johnson being the others -- Spieth is the only one to win a major.

"The other guys are trying to chase their first," he said. "I know how hard it is to chase your first and close it out. I need to convince myself by the time I tee off that it's mine and I can go ahead and take some chances because I'm going to have to play aggressive in order to win."