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TSN Senior Reporter

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If there’s one man who can help Jordan Spieth get back to playing consistently great golf, it might just be Carl Spackler.

Spieth teed it up with the legendary greenskeeper on Wednesday at Colonial. No word on whether it will lead to a Cinderella story for the world’s second-ranked golfer.

Spackler, of course, is a character created by comedic actor Bill Murray in the movie Caddyshack. Murray, a fine golfer in his own right, was part of Spieth’s pro-am group at the Dean & Deluca Invitational in Fort Worth, Tex. And as he does at his annual appearance at Pebble Beach, Murray, dressed in wrinkled, clashing clothing, played to the crowd, drew some laughs and, perhaps most noticeable, got Spieth smiling and laughing.

"He was a shot-maker," said a smiling Spieth, when asked to describe Murray to reporters after their day. "Yeah. He was carving the ball left to right and right to left off the tee, working it high and low."
As Murray smirked, Spieth continued.

"And you know, he showed up for the big moments," added Spieth. "He knew when the crowd was there. He knew when to pull off the shots, really pick up his game. He's a performer."

Other than his fashion choices, Murray said he couldn’t give Spieth any advice. However, he was predicting big things for the Dallas resident.

"I'm not a gambling man, but I'd mortgage my house on the weekend and make some real money,” said Murray. “I'm going to ride this pony, this wild mustang, all the way to the finish line."

Joking aside, having a few laughs on the course might be a good thing for Spieth. During his recent run of spotty play that started with the final round of the Masters where he threw away a chance at a second-straight Green Jacket, there have been times when he’s looked tense and frustrated on the course, talking to himself, seemingly beating himself up.

Last week was one of those moments. After 54 holes at the Byron Nelson, Spieth was tied for second, but a final-round 74 left him in a tie for 18th.

“I don't think Sunday was any reflection of me being overly frustrated or concerned with ball-striking,” he stated. “I think it was just an off day, and I think that the constant questions of me being too hard on myself is not necessarily making it easier for myself.”

After one of the great years in recent memory, Spieth has not been able to follow on his success. But then few would. He’s admittedly struggled with his swing and it shows up most noticeably with his irons. Last year, he was 49th in Greens in Regulation; so far this season he’s 118th. As well, his once trusty putter has gone cold from mid-range. He’s 136th in putting from inside 10 feet.

And Sunday hasn’t been his favourite day of late. He’s failed to break 70 in his last five final rounds.

Still, it isn’t as if Spieth’s game has fallen off the edge of the world. He won the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in January and has finished inside the top 25 in nine of 11 starts.

And he doesn’t like to dwell on past successes. He’s more of a glass-half-full type of guy.

“I've never been one to compare to any past years that I've had,” Spieth stated. “It's all about how can we put ourselves in position to win the tournament this week and what's our goal going in the short future to get ready for the next major. It's kind of what we did last year. It wasn't trying to compare it to 2014. I mean, I'm looking for a strong week this week to keep momentum going into Memorial and then into the U.S. Open.”

And as Carl Spackler might say, he’s got that going for him, so that’s nice.