CHASKA, Minn. — It was clear very early Tuesday that Jordan Spieth wasn't messing around during his practice round at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
Playing alongside Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar, it was evident Spieth was on a mission to figure out the course.
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On the first hole, he drilled a drive down the right side of the fairway and stuck his second shot about 10 feet from the hole. He barely waited for Johnson to hit his second shot before hiking up to the green to read his putt. Spieth had already hit multiple putts and bunker shots before some of his playing partners really settled onto the green.
Not to say the others were lackadaisical, but Spieth had an intense look in his eye three days before the international competition starts.
Even more interesting than Spieth's nature was the "pod" in which he was placed.
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U.S. captain Davis Love III clearly has pairings figured out, and it appears Spieth will play with Reed again.
"The pairing with Patrick, I think (works) kind of because we just want to beat the crap out of each other," Spieth said in his Tuesday news conference. "We've been paired a lot and we always seem to play well in the same groups. I know we have a great pod with Kuchar and DJ, and things could adjust over the next couple days. But this is definitely a matchup that we (Reed and Spieth) look forward to playing in."
Spieth has been vocal about the importance of winning this week.
Having only played in one Ryder Cup — a losing effort in 2014 — he hasn't felt the brunt of the team losing six of the last seven, but he's ready to move on from the losing talk.
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"Honestly, I think we're just tired of being told that we haven't won in a while," he said. "I've only played in one and I felt Patrick and I made a good team. We were actually very successful in our own right, but this is a team event.
"There are ways we both could have improved to be better in what we did and everybody has to take part and do their job in order to have the Cup at the end."
As with everyone in the field, Spieth spent time talking about Arnold Palmer, and what the legend meant to golf.
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"(Palmer) was very inspirational to every single player in this event,and everyone that really plays the game" Spieth said. "He kind of transcended (the game), and he's the one who is very responsible for us being able to make a good living at what we do.
"We all owe everything we have in the game of golf, at least a bit of it, to Arnold Palmer."