Jordan Spieth at Memorial Tournament 2016: Friday Leaderboard Score, Reaction
Jordan Spieth's second round at the Memorial Tournament started in inauspicious fashion, but a late scoring surge from the world's second-ranked player stole the show late Friday afternoon at the Muirfield Village Golf Course in Dublin, Ohio.
Spieth now sits at six under for the tournament after entering the day at two under and flirting with the cut line for stages of the second round.
Here's a look at the top of the Memorial leaderboard, which is headlined by Brendan Steele, Matt Kuchar, Emiliano Grillo and Gary Woodland:
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With Round 2 in the books, Spieth sits six shots behind Kuchar and Steele with moving day on the horizon:
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Round 2 Score | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Overall Score | -1 | -1 | -1 | E | E | E | -1 | -1 | -2 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Round 2 Score | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Overall Score | -3 | -3 | -3 | -4 | -5 | -6 | -6 | -6 | -6 |
The 22-year-old was coming off an uninspiring Thursday showing that was littered with inconsistency, and his problems didn't stop when he teed off for Round 2.
Spieth carded bogeys on No. 1 and No. 4 to fall outside the projected cut line off the bat, and he failed to take advantage of a stellar early scoring opportunity on No. 5.
After striking his third shot on the 527-yard par five to within three yards of the hole, Spieth blew his chance for birdie and had to settle for par. The same story unfolded on the par-four sixth, where Spieth's second shot landed four yards from the hole and he failed to convert another birdie.
However, Spieth made amends for his shortcomings with a needed birdie on No. 7 that pushed him back into red numbers and appeared to serve as a spark. The two-time major winner knocked his approach on the par-four ninth to within inches of the cup, and he calmly tapped in for birdie to make the turn inside of the cut line at two under:
Somehow, that may not have been Spieth's most impressive sequence of the day.
On the next hole, he unleashed a wicked bunker shot from 173 yards out that rolled to within a few feet of the hole so he could tap in for back-to-back birdies, as the PGA Tour documented on Twitter:
His roll slowed slightly with pars on Nos. 11 and 12, but by that point, Spieth had busted free of the shaky stylings that plagued him over the first four holes and harnessed enough positive momentum to close out his round in strong fashion.
Spieth poured in three straight birdies on Nos. 13 through 15, and his bogey-free back nine provided plenty of reason for optimism entering the weekend.
Beyond the fact that Spieth was able to vault up the leaderboard and creep onto the fringe of contention, the brilliance he displayed with his putter down the stretch bodes well for his prospects moving forward.
The U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club is less than two weeks away, and if Spieth wants to have a shot at defending his title, he'll need to pull away from a hungry pack with elite efficiency on the greens.
Post-Round Reaction
"The more you think about the cut line, the easier it is to hang around the cut line," Spieth said, per the Associated Press (via PGATour.com). "I looked up at the board when I was at even and I thought, `You know, I'm 12 back. That's a lot. How can we do our best just to do a little dent in it and maybe make some magic happen after that?'"
"Nice to hit some fairways, and when I didn't I was still able to have the ball on the green," Spieth said, per GolfChannel.com's Ryan Reiterman. "I felt like I had enough chances to get in a rhythm with the putter."
And with two rounds in the bag, Spieth told reporters he has a clear blueprint for Saturday and Sunday as he seeks to make up ground.
"Normally I'd say play aggressive on the weekend to try to make a move," he said, per Reiterman. "I think I need to play more conservative. I hit the ball into some wrong spots early in the round without giving myself any chance at even making a long putt for birdie. So if I pick more conservative targets and really put committed swings like I did the second half of the round - again, my putter, I feel great over the ball with my putter right now. I just need to have more chances."
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
