Golf star Jordan Spieth couldn't contain his emotion as he swore live on television after hitting a miracle shot during his opening day win at the WGC-Match Play.
The former Masters champion is preparing for a second assault on Augusta in two weeks time, and showed his form against world No.60 Mackenzie Hughes. It was Spieth who took control of the match and was 2-up through nine in the match play format.
Coming onto the 15th hole at four-up, the American was firmly in control before his tee shot went left and he took a drop in the rough. Despite his approach shot ending up in an awkward position, Spieth managed to hit a miraculous winning shot.
With a scintillating chip, the ball dropped perfectly on the green before rolling into the hole.
The wonder shot ended the match and an excited Spieth swore during a live interview on the Golf Channel afterwards. He said: “Yeah, I got in the bunker and told Michael (Spieth’s caddie) 10 feet left was the best option and then I got down there and I’m like, well, I may as well go ahead and play a higher fuller one and try and get it close.
“And I told Mack (Hughes) it was kind of some bulls**t. So I kind of apologized there for the way that it ended, but it was nice that it went in with the right speed so maybe it would have tied the hole.”
The former world No.1 is currently 14th in the Official Golf Rankings heading into the first major championship of the season. Spieth missed the cut at the Genesis Invitational last month and finished T19 at the Players Championship.
After placing joint third at last weekend's Valspar Championship, the American hopes to pick up more form at this week's WGC-Match Play. He features in a group against Hughes, Shane Lowry and Taylor Montgomery.
Spieth says that the match play format helped to 'free him up' during his opening day victory.
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He added: “I think going out feeling like you don’t have to go do anything special, instead just go play golf, frees you up a little, that maybe kind of helps a couple of those swings you see a little better or you see a positive outcome versus avoiding a negative one, stuff like that, if you’re in the right frame of mind.
“I’ve been trying to work on just kind of hitting and playing and not talking so much. I did an okay job of that. I would say I didn’t do a great job of that on my last hole. I was like, what am I doing hitting it over here, and then I ended up holing the shot. It doesn’t necessarily affect how I play, but it is a lot less energy used up, it feels like, over the last couple weeks.”
