Jordan Spieth unabashedly owns his late decision to wind up Ian Poulter

Patrick McCarry

You didn’t have to be a Ryder Cup expert to know what Jordan Spieth was up to here.

Spieth and Justin Thomas were the heroes for Team USA on Day Two of the Ryder Cup, in Paris.

The Americans ended Saturday in a worse position than they began – 10-6 behind – but by sharing the afternoon foursomes they have kept this contest alive. To prise the cup from Jim Furyk’s hands, Europe must win 4.5 points on Sunday but a decent US start could spice matters up.

Spieth and Thomas definitely pulled their weight on Saturday. In the morning, they defeated Ian Poulter and (the winless) Jon Rahm 2&1.

They repeated the losing dose for Poulter in the afternoon as they beat the Englishman and Rory McIlroy 3&2. After dropping his match-winning putt, Spieth aimed a prolonged chest-thump in Poulter’s direction.

They may be down, but Jordan Spieth ended the day with an emphatic victory for the United States. pic.twitter.com/yug2HHWZ6q

— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) September 29, 2018

Could the three-time Major winner simply have lost the run of himself. Yes and no.

Following his round, Spieth told NBC’s Steve Sands:

“Ian, being a Ryder Cup guru, to have him twice today and win, and he pounded his chest twice on us earlier today.

“So I was waiting for the right moment, and I think to win the match this afternoon, it felt like the right time.”

Poulter spoke only about his disappointment at not being able to personally follow-up on his Friday afternoon foursomes win, with McIlroy. He was not asked about spieth’s provocative celebrations but they have surely been noted.

Spieth, meanwhile, told reporters that Team USA simply need to put red on the board early on. He commented:

“Yeah, it certainly is, because if they get a couple points on the board, we have to win something like eight out of the next 10.

“So we’ve got to get off to a good start, we know that but even if we were leading, we would say the same I think this. Each individual has to focus on their match and their match only. I would certainly recommend not doing any scoreboard watching and take care of your match.”

Spieth will take on Thorbjorn Olesen in the seventh Singles match while Poulter goes out just beforehand against Dustin Johnson.