Jordan Spieth had mixed feelings about the changes to the Royal Troon course set-up
Danny Willett also endures a frustrating time at Royal Troon
By Raz Mirza
Last Updated: 16/07/16 3:00pm
World No 3 Jordan Spieth blamed his short game and wedge play for a disappointing 72 after squandering a flying start to the third round of The Open.
The two-time major winner carded birdies on the first, third, sixth and seventh at Royal Troon to get back to level par for the tournament after making the cut on the mark of four over par on Friday.
But Spieth then bogeyed the ninth and 10th and ran up a double bogey on the 11th on his way to a one-over round and five-over-par for the tournament.
Leaderboard
With winds forecast to gust up to 30mph, tournament organisers had opted not to cut or roll the greens and moved tees forward on the eighth, 11th, 16th and 17th.
"I was disappointed that the tees were up on 16 and 17," Spieth said. "I don't think that did anything to it. Not disappointed, I think it was unnecessary.
"But the one on eight is pretty cool so it's under 100 yards now and you're trying to figure out what club to hit and how to hit it, where to hit it, almost where to lay up. For how strong the wind was when we were on the tee, I thought that was a great set-up."
Jordan Spieth's last 10 Major rounds:
- 0 under par rounds
- 18 over par
And although Spieth felt he has been striking the ball well, he also felt that he was let down by other areas of his game.
"I'm hitting the ball great," he said. "Very pleased with that. I hit it well enough to shoot four or five-under easy today. On the front nine if I putt the way I should putt, my short game and wedge play has really let me down, too.
"But that really easily could have shot seven-under on that front nine."
Spieth, who missed out on the play-off at St Andrews last year by a single shot, admits that he is frustrated with his golf but insists he is getting close to his best.
"For me, I set the expectations high for myself, but I feel like I've been getting a little more frustrated off the golf course than normal. My game feels like it's rounding into shape though," said the 22-year-old.
"My ball striking has really let me down this year, and I've been actually striking the ball better and better coming from the first round of Akron [WGC-Bridgestone Invitational] to the final round, and then this week I felt like I've hit the ball really, really well.
"And as good as my putting has been this year, which is pretty much the same standard as last year, it just wasn't there this week. If it's there this week and I'm on the right end of the draw, I'm hitting it well enough to be at or really near the lead.
"So although I'm so far behind, it's very close, and I feel confident about getting back to kind of the basics at home and getting ready for PGA."
Masters champion Danny Willett endured a frustrating time of his own on the difficult links course, posting a round of 74 to leave him seven-over for the tournament.
Although the Yorkshireman refused to blame a sickness bug which hampered his progress this week, he admits it has taken its toll.
"It's just been a frustrating week," he said. "Like I said, it's been grand start to finish. Had a reasonable week last week practising and obviously felt sick a few days and not been able to do anything."
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