PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – As if Justin Thomas could ever forget what happened at Riviera Country Club’s 15th hole in his match against Jordan Spieth at the 2012 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship, caddie Michael Greller never fails to pick at that scab.
“Michael FaceTimes him every single time on the 15th hole and he stops answering now,” Jordan Spieth said on Thursday. “He asked when we were walking up 15 if he should FaceTime him now even though he was two groups behind us. Justin answered it for a few years and now he just either answers it flipping him off or he doesn’t answer it at all.”
“But now he FaceTimed Bones and then he got me that way,” Thomas said. “He’s sneaky.”
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Spieth’s fateful shot, a 4-iron approach that disappeared into the bottom of the cup to all but ice their head-to-head match and help Spieth’s Texas Longhorns edge Thomas’ Alabama team 3-2 in the match play final.
“He hates when I bring that up,” Spieth said.
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So far this week, at the Genesis Invitational, Thomas and Spieth both are lurking behind 36-hole leader Joaquin Niemann (16 under) and Cameron Young (14 under), and no one would be surprised if Thomas, who is in third (11 under) and Spieth, who is tied for fourth with Adam Scott (9 under), arrive at the 15th hole dueling again on Sunday.
Thomas gained a slight edge over Spieth after posting a 7-under 64 Friday to Spieth’s 67. Both players enjoyed the par-5 11th to the fullest – Spieth made eagle from 30 feet off the green while Thomas rolled in his eagle putt from 32 feet.
“That was definitely the most well-played hole I had today,” Thomas said. “I told Bones after I hit the second shot, I’ve missed it short right to that pin too many times already and that wasn’t happening again.”
Spieth was on the verge of matching Thomas’s bogey-free day until he took three putts at the last hole to spoil a beautiful Chamber of Commerce day in this suburb of Los Angeles. But despite conditions that were ideal for scoring, Thomas still tipped his hat to the torrid pace set by Niemann and Young, his closest pursuer.
“There’s no conditions that you see 16 under leading after two rounds here,” Thomas said. “I would have thought shooting 11 under, yeah, 11 under, I would have thought that I would probably be leading, not five back, but there’s still a lot of golf left.”
