Jordan Spieth at US Open 2016: Saturday Leaderboard Score and Twitter Reaction

Defending champion Jordan Spieth's struggles continued Saturday at the U.S. Open, as he shot a second-round two-over 72 to go with an even third round 70, which leaves him at four over for the tournament. 

Spieth entered the clubhouse at Oakmont Country Club in a tie for 27th, nine strokes behind the leader. Here is a look at the top of the leaderboard:

The two-time major winner settled for a disappointing two-over 72 in his rain-interrupted opening round, and he was unable to make measurable gains during the second or third round, as evidenced by his up-and-down scorecard:

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Hole	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In
Par	4	4	4	5	4	3	4	3	4	35
Round 2	5	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	5	36
Overall	+3	+2	+2	+1	+1	+2	+2	+2	+3	+3
Par	4	4	5	3	4	4	3	4	4	35
Round 2	4	5	5	3	5	4	2	4	4	36
Overall	+3	+4	+4	+4	+5	+5	+4	+4	+4	+4

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Hole	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In
Par	4	4	4	5	4	3	4	3	4	35
Round 3	4	6	5	4	4	3	4	3	4	37
Overall	-2	E	1	E	E	E	E	E	E	E
Par	4	4	5	3	4	4	3	4	4	35
Round 3	4	3	4	2	5	4	3	4	4	33
Overall	E	-1	-2	-3	-2	-2	-2	-2	-2	-2

Spieth entered the second round in unfamiliar territory, as his first-round performance was his worst at a major in nearly three years, according to ESPN Stats & Info:

With much of the field struggling to card strong scores, though, he had an opportunity to put himself in contention with an under-par round.

He didn't get off to a great start, as he bogeyed the par-four first and dug himself a hole immediately.

Spieth managed to get that stroke back with a birdie on the next hole and then birdied the fourth to pull within one stroke of even par for the tourney.

The 22-year-old American's game began to unravel from there, however, when bogeys piled up and birdies became difficult to come by.

After bogeys on the sixth and ninth, Spieth carded another bogey shortly after the turn on the par-four 11th.

Bill Nichols of the Dallas Morning News suggested the wind was wreaking havoc with Spieth's game and concentration:

To make matters worse for the world's No. 2 player, pressure began to mount shortly thereafter when he and his group were warned for playing too slowly, per Luke Kerr-Dineen of USA Today.

Despite a lack of low scores overall, Spieth's uneven play left him well off the pace and put him in a precarious position.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, it has been 24 years since a golfer came from as far off the pace as Spieth was through 13 holes to win a major tournament:

His deficit grew on the 15th hole when he squandered a solid chip by lipping out a par putt for his fifth bogey of the day.

As Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News pointed out, that miscue left Spieth visibly frustrated:

After a brutal string of holes, Spieth was finally able to stop the bleeding and give himself some breathing room with regard to the cut line by birdying the par-three 16th with a lengthy putt that he struck perfectly.

For as angry as Spieth was two holes earlier, Townsend believes the birdie was precisely what he needed to turn things around:

With Spieth needing to make up some ground prior to the end of the second round, he took a chance on the short par-four 17th by taking a run at the green off the tee, as seen in this video from Fox Sports:

Spieth had to settle for par, though, and closed out his round with another par on the 18th, which left him with plenty of work to do in the third round. 

Starting on the back-nine for his third round later on Saturday, Spieth looked like a new golfer. After a par on No. 10, Spieth rattled off three-straight birdies from No. 11 to No. 13 to quickly get to three under on the day and one over for the tournament. 

One of his nicest shots of the day came on No. 13 with his first shot on the par-three, which initially landed just inches away from the pin before rolling a few feet, via the USGA:

That hot stretch served as a warning for Golf Digest's Stephen Hennessy:

But the good vibes didn't last long after Spieth bogeyed No. 14 and then parred out the rest of the back-nine. 

His turn onto the front-nine wasn't nearly as good as his third-round start as he recorded a double bogey on No. 2 and a bogey on No. 3 to sink back down to one over on the day. 

Spieth managed to scramble back to even with a birdie on No. 5, but that was all he was able muster on Saturday. 

Making the cut represented a minor victory for Spieth since he was in danger of falling below the line for a period of time Saturday, but that is of little consolation for an elite player who won two majors in 2015.

Many golfers have experienced wild swings in scoring from one round to the next thus far, which suggests it isn't outside the realm of possibility for Spieth to dominate in the final round and at least give himself an outside shot at contending.

If he plays anything like he did in the opening three rounds, though, Spieth will be little more than an also-ran at Oakmont.

Even with so much uncertainty near the top of the leaderboard, Spieth faces a huge uphill climb, and the likelihood of being a contender at any point in the final round is quite low following his Saturday showing.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.