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 Former school teacher Michael Greller has been working as Spieth's
bagman since 2012 and, as a former Chambers Bay caddie, he is a
popular figure within golf circles in this part of the Pacific
Northwest.
The sports section in Monday's issue of the News Tribune newspaper
in nearby Tacoma, Washington, was led by an article on Greller,
accompanied by several photographs -- much to the amusement of
Spieth.
"He (Greller) is really going to take heat from that from us," a
smiling Spieth, 21, told reporters on a sun-splashed Monday
afternoon in the spectacular surrounds of Chambers Bay where the
water glistened on Puget Sound.
"We were putting and joking around today and people were screaming
out, 'Greller, Greller'. We're giving him some smack for it and he's
taking it from his caddie buddies too."
On a more serious note, Spieth said that Greller was trying to keep
a low profile when it came to requests for media interviews during
the year's second major.
"He just tries to stay out of it," said Spieth, who stunned the golf
world in April as he completed a wire-to-wire victory by four shots
at the Masters.
"He's certainly done stuff for media before, but I think this week
he's got so much on his plate ... it's a major week, so we try to
limit everything we do off the course."
Spieth has previous playing experience at Chambers Bay from the 2010
U.S. Amateur, but he plans to take advantage of Greller's extensive
caddying knowledge of the links-style layout.
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"It's going to help with driving the ball, sight lines and
understanding when things get firm he's going to know where it would
run off to a little better, maybe," said Spieth.
While Spieth has already enjoyed a stellar season with PGA Tour
victories at the Valspar Championship and Masters, he is determined
not to ease up.
"If I didn't do anything the rest of the year, I'd be pretty
frustrated at the second half," he said.
"You can't win a grand slam (of the majors) unless you win the
first, so I'm the only one with that opportunity this year. I'm
going to go ahead and focus on this week and see if I can put myself
in contention."
(Editing by Frank Pingue)
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