2015 British Open: Jordan Spieth keeps Grand Slam hope alive with streaky 3rd round

Jordan Spieth spent last Saturday halfway around the world charging up the leaderboard and into first place at the John Deere Classic with an astounding 61. A week later and with the stakes a little higher, Spieth rocketed back to the top of the leaderboard with a 6-under round of 66. He played his third round 90 minutes ahead of the final group, so at 11-under, he may be a shot or two behind by the time the round is done. That is nothing for Spieth at this point and he said he feels calmer and he’ll sleep better tonight than he has at the last two majors.

Spieth’s Grand Slam hopes were teetering on the edge this weekend but he’ll head to the final round with just as good a chance to win this one as he did last month at the U.S. Open. In the middle of his third round, the momentum from that win last week and this chase for the Slam seemed gone. He made an awful bogey at the 9th green, needing four shots from 90 yards to finally get in the hole. He was furious and smacked himself walking off the green.

On top of the nasty bogey, Spieth and his playing partner Sergio Garcia were warned multiple times on the first nine about pace of play. They fell almost two holes behind the group in front of them and the walking rules official told them at the turn that it would be the last friendly warning before they were put on the clock.

One way to pick up the pace of play is to take fewer shots and as soon as Spieth hit the inward nine, he started rolling them in in the center of the cup in the same way we watched last week and at the first two majors of the season. The 21-year-old canned three straight birdies to start his second nine, the third of which put him on a share of the lead (10-under at the time).

Spieth would add one more birdie at the 15th hole to get to 11-under for the round, which was just a shot off the pace when he got into the clubhouse.

As he made the turn down in the loop, Spieth’s putter, his best club, still seemed off and it looked like the Slam shot would evaporate. He had the worst putting round of his career over that two-day second round, needing 37 strokes up on the green. That front nine Sunday featured some of the same but he said he made a change with his alignment on the 7th hole. The result was a ridiculous 10 putts on his last nine holes, which was seven fewer than what he had in his prior round at St. Andrews.

The lead was fluctuating around 12-under and that number may go higher given the clustered leaderboard and all the birdie chances out on the course. But Spieth is absolutely back in the hunt to take his third straight major. Just being there is an accomplishment but now we have a chance at history on Monday.