Players Championship 2015: Leaderboard Scores and Highlights from Friday

On a day with many fine performances at the 2015 Players Championship, Kevin Na remains the most consistent player with a 69 on Friday to tie for the 36-hole lead at eight under par. The best round of the day belonged to Jerry Kelly with a seven-under 65 and sits atop the leaderboard with Na. 

Often one of the most competitive events on the PGA Tour calendar, there are no shortage of contenders for a title with 36 holes remaining. Branden Grace, David Hearn, Chris Kirk and Rickie Fowler are all sitting at six under par. 

Here's how the leaderboard stands after Friday's second round at the TPC Sawgrass:

Still lurking in the shadows waiting to make a run on moving day is Rory McIlroy. The 26-year-old hasn't had one dominant round yet, but he hasn't hit a rough patch after firing 69 on Thursday and 71 on Friday to remain within earshot of Na. 

McIlroy had things working early, even when it didn't seem like that was the case. Here's what he did on the par-five second hole after a poor tee shot (via PGA Tour on Twitter):

Tiger Woods put together a solid round on Friday to make the cut. The 14-time major champion finished with a 71 in the second round to reach even par, right at the cut line. It's the second consecutive tournament he's played and made the cut, which is a sign of progress given where he was before the Masters. 

Per ESPN Stats & Info, this marks the 16th consecutive year Woods has made the cut at the Players Championship:

Woods did make things interesting, entering the final hole at one-over and needing a birdie to make the cut. As noted by ESPN.com's Jason Sobel, Woods' save on 18 basically feels like a win based on how far he's fallen over the last two seasons:

Regardless of how things are viewed for Woods now in the prism of his career, any progress at this point is good. He's not going to win this weekend, barring a miracle round on Saturday, but it's hard to get better if he isn't playing the weekend. 

Woods said after the round that he likes where his game is now, but he's still waiting for that one day when it all falls into place (via Steve DiMeglio of USA Today):

"

Obviously I need tournament golf. My game is finally at a point where I can play tournament golf on a consistent basis. That wasn't the case early in the year. Wasn't very good. But I worked my butt off to change it, and I'm pretty proud of that, to be able to show up at Augusta and do what I did, and now I've just got to keep building from there.

"

One player who won't be lurking this weekend, unless he's just walking around the course to see what others are doing, is Jordan Spieth. The 2015 Masters champion got off to a bad start on Thursday with a three-over 75 and needed to make up three shots to hit the projected cut line at even par. 

Spieth did shoot better on Friday with a 72, but he didn't have enough gas in the tank to overcome yesterday's rough patch. He was even through nine holes in the second round with one birdie and one bogey, picked up a shot with a birdie on 11, and that would be as good as things got. 

By missing the cut at the Players Championship, Spieth becomes the first player in 11 years to win at Augusta and not play the weekend here, per Golf Channel's Justin Ray:

This marks just the second missed cut for Spieth in 2015. His first came at the Farmers Insurance Open in February. 

ESPN's Robert Smith had some fun trolling fans on Twitter about Spieth missing the cut:

Clearly, Smith is right that Spieth must be feeling the heat after winning a green jacket. How else does one explain him finishing outside the top 10 at the previous two tournaments before missing the cut here? (Please detect the sarcasm here.)

Na is seeking his second career PGA Tour win. The 31-year-old has been a steady presence on tour for years, but his only victory came in 2011 at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. 

After the round, per ESPN.com's Jason Sobel, Na was frank about why he played the course at a glacial pace on Friday:

In 2012, Na finished seventh at the Players Championship but had a horrible final-round 76 that eliminated him from contention. 

Perhaps playing in the state of Florida agrees with Na, at least this year, as the PGA Tour Media tweeted about his success in three tournaments held in the state so far in 2015:

Na is still a long way from winning, but seeing him competing again at an event that gave him problems in the past is encouragement that things can turn out differently this time. 

The same goes for Kelly, who has been a non-factor for most of this season. He does have two top-10 finishes in 14 events this season, at the OHL Classic and Sony Open, but he has also missed six cuts. 

Per Michael Whitmer of The Boston Globe, Kelly hasn't been lighting up the leaderboard at the Players Championship over the years:

The 48-year-old Kelly does have three career PGA Tour wins, two coming in 2002. His last victory came at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in April 2009. It would be safe to call him an out-of-the-box contender this weekend. 

It's not a conventional leaderboard through two rounds at the Players Championship, but that only makes for excitement heading into the weekend. Na and Kelly will have all the pressure on their shoulders, while stars such as Fowler and McIlroy look to make up ground on moving day.