Jordan Spieth better than words

PEBBLE BEACH, California – Amid all the celebrities Saturday at Pebble Beach, no one turned in a performance quite like Jordan Spieth.

Spieth took only 10 putts on the back nine, and none were particularly easy except for the last one. His pitch from 54 yards checked up next to pin for a tap-in birdie that gave him a 7-under 65 and a six-shot lead, the largest of his PGA Tour career.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better putting day,” Spieth said, scary words from a two-time major champion regarded as one of the best putters on ordinary days.

Starting out the third round tied with Jason Day and Derek Fathauer, Spieth never gave anyone a chance.

Following his only bogey of the round – a 7-iron over the cliffs on No. 8 to a back pin that narrowly hung up in rough above the green – he ran off three straight birdies and then made his toughest putt of the day. Spieth lightly pumped his fist after making a curling 6-footer for par on No. 12.

“That was probably the most satisfied I was on a putt,” he said.

It was like that all day. He wound up one-putting 13 greens and took 23 putts for the round, unheard of on the saturated poa greens of Pebble Beach on their third day of having 104 professionals and amateurs and all their footprints.

Spieth was at 17-under 197, six shots clear of two-time Pebble winner Brandt Snedeker.