Jordan Spieth is back at Pebble Beach this week to defend his title, and he's excited to once again compete on the historic venue.
"This is a beautiful place to come back to. We're obviously going to be blessed with the weather this week," Spieth said Wednesday during his press conference. "Last year was a little bit different, but, boy, it's going to be something special. We're going to see a few firm golf courses which is going to be a change. That will be a lot different from last year.
"But really exciting in itself. It will actually be a pretty, not quite U.S. Open-like test, but somewhat similar conditions at Pebble Beach, which will be a neat experience for all of us."
Players have to endure the extra challenge of playing alongside amateurs at this week's pro-am. Spieth said it takes a bit of an adjustment heading into the week.
"You have to, obviously, for a couple reasons, show a bit more patience," Spieth said. "The rounds are slower. This year it's going to be a little different because the weather's so good and the course is playing firmer, I think it will move quicker than obviously last year when we were walking with umbrellas … the first day.
"But, yeah, you have to be a little bit more patient. But you also have to be very patient on the greens here because there's more traffic. And last year was the first year where I lowered my expectations on the greens and just accepted hitting putts at the right speed and putting them around the right line, and if they fell, they fell. If they didn't, move on and hit as many greens in regulation as possible."
Spieth, who missed the cut last week at the Phoenix Open, has been struggling with his putter a bit this year, but he's still extremely confident in his abilities.
"What goes through my head is I still believe that most of the guys that sit on this stage right here, you ask them who do they want putting on your team in a Ryder Cup, and I believe they would say my name. So I have no doubt in my abilities," Spieth said. "Just going through just a minor slump that is just setup related.
"I'm just trying to get back and I got a little on top of it and I was kind of hitting the ball into the ground with a — with my hands pretty far forward, which is a very, it's opposite of what my natural tendency has been going back to when I was 8 years old. So I just kind of got into a place that I hadn't been before, and I just got to kind of get back into a comfortable setup position and then everything will fall through from there."
Spieth is playing alongside Dustin Johnson during the first two rounds this week.
