Jordan Spieth at Players Championship 2016: Friday Leaderboard Score, Reaction

Jordan Spieth has a lot of work to do if he wants to be a factor at the 2016 Players Championship, as the 22-year-old ended play Friday at one under par through 14 holes before darkness forced play to be suspended. 

Weather did play a role in how things played out in the second round. There was a two-hour delay that left several players, including Spieth, needing to finish the first 36 holes on Saturday before beginning the third round. 

Here's the full leaderboard from the TPC Sawgrass, with Spieth way down the list in a tie for 75th place and one shot off the cut line:

This tournament has not been kind to Spieth in the past. He missed the cut last year in one of the few blemishes on an otherwise spectacular season. 

So far this year, Spieth has been able to avoid the bad round. He opened with an even-par 72 on Thursday and is sitting at one under so far in the second round, but there hasn't been that one blow away performance he's capable of producing. 

Johnny Miller said on the Golf Network broadcast (via Kyle Porter of CBS Sports) that Spieth seems to be missing something:

The magic at Augusta did result in a 32 on the front nine, including four consecutive birdies before making the turn. The final nine holes saw him collapse in spectacular fashion with two consecutive bogeys on No. 10 and 11, a double bogey on No. 12 and bogey on No.  17 that led to a total score of 41. 

This is Spieth's first tournament since that debacle. The results are certainly better, albeit not up to the level that everyone has come to expect from the young Texan. 

One good thing for Spieth, as noted by ESPN's Jason Sobel, is that even when things are looking bad, he's trying to keep a sense of humor:

There were moments when Spieth began to show some cracks in the foundation, as noted by Brandon Tierney of CBS Sports Radio:

Those instances are when it's starting to become apparent that frustration is settling in for a player. Spieth has not had the kind of season anyone expected after he was named PGA Tour Player of the Year in 2015. 

He did have an opportunity to win the Masters before that horrible ending and won the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in January, but those have been his high marks in 2016. The Texas native hasn't broken 70 since the first round at Augusta. 

Spieth's biggest issue so far has been on the green, as he's sitting at negative-1.185 strokes gained with his putter and is the only major category at which he's below average. He entered play today ranked 20th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting. 

Golf is a game in which players can make up for a lot of deficiencies on the green. If that area of your game isn't working, however, nothing else will matter. 

Spieth has four holes left tomorrow to figure things out or else he will be sent home from the Players Championship early for the second straight year and will face a lot more questions about where his game is at in 2016. 

It's not where Spieth thought he would be, but the testament of a great athlete is responding to adversity. He's in a position to make the cut, which would be a huge win for him at this point.