Jordan Spieth at Barclays 2016: Friday Leaderboard Score and Twitter Reaction
After teetering close to the cut line, Jordan Spieth bounced back and established himself as a contender Friday at The Barclays, shooting a four-under 67.
Spieth ended his second round at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York, in a tie for fourth place thanks to a dominant performance during the second half of his day.
Here is a look at the leaderboard for the first FedEx Cup playoff event of 2016:
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Spieth started on the back nine and struggled Friday, but as seen in this rundown of his scorecard, he made up a ton of ground on the front:
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 |
| Round 2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 36 |
| Overall | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +1 | +1 |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 36 |
| Round 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 31 |
| Overall | +1 | E | E | -2 | -2 | -3 | -4 | -4 | -4 | -4 |
The two-time major champion started the second round with a double bogey on the par-four 10th after shooting a somewhat disappointing even-par 71 Thursday.
Spieth then reeled off seven consecutive pars, and as he teed off on No. 18, he was right on the cut line of two over par.
That marked the turning point of his round, as he nailed a lengthy birdie putt on the 18th to make the turn at one over on the day and the tournament, as seen in this video courtesy of the PGA Tour:
Following a par on No. 1, Spieth got his score back to even with a birdie on No. 2 thanks to this spectacular approach shot:
The positive momentum continued for Spieth on the par-five fourth when he put his second shot just a couple of feet from the hole and tapped in for eagle shortly thereafter:
As impressive as the eagle was, his best performance of the day may have come on the sixth hole after he hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker.
Spieth's approach from the sand was nearly perfect, and he made no mistake on the green by rolling home yet another birdie putt:
The 23-year-old superstar followed that up with another birdie on No. 7, which completed a spectacular eight-hole run that brought him from near the bottom of the leaderboard to near the top, per Scott Bell of the Dallas Morning News:
Spieth closed out his round with a pair of pars, which clinched a sizzling 31 through his final nine holes of the day and put him within one shot of the lead at the time he entered the clubhouse.
The 2016 season has been somewhat of a roller-coaster ride for Spieth, but he put himself in excellent position to contend for the victory at Bethpage Black.
Regardless of whether he takes the win, Spieth is already in elite company among golfers who enjoyed success before the age of 24, according to Justin Ray of Golf Channel:
Although it has been three months since his last victory, Spieth showed some flashes of brilliance down the stretch Friday, and his track record suggests he may be the biggest threat to win the tournament.
Spieth is the reigning FedEx Cup champion, and although he didn't even make the cut at last year's Barclays, he has proved he knows how to get the job done in playoff situations.
Every aspect of Spieth's game was firing on all cylinders over the course of his final 10 holes Friday, and a similar performance Saturday and Sunday should put him in the FedEx Cup driver's seat.
Post-Round Reaction
Spieth's second round was a tale of two halves, as a slow start was overshadowed by a torrid finish that got him back in contention at The Barclays.
After the round, Spieth discussed his turnaround and how it came to be, according to Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post:
"It's such a tough golf course. It's rare when we play tournaments on courses this challenging. Normally they are majors. But four-under makes up a lot of ground. I was two-over and on the cut line, having to play the rest of the back nine. At that point, I'm thinking, 'Let's go ahead and try to get to even for the tournament,' but we started getting some momentum.
Obviously, the eagle [on No. 4] jumps you up there a bit. And I got it to four-under there on the seventh hole after a good tee shot, I was left with a pretty simple chance of making birdie. Nice to finish those last two with two pars.
"
While Spieth played excellent golf on his back nine and picked up several strokes, he admitted afterward that he is still trying to find the range off the tee, per Patrick Kiernan of GolfDigest.com: "That's going to be the key for me the next couple days. I still don't feel great about the way I swung the driver. I found some fairways towards the end, but I need to kind of try and figure out a ball flight I know I can play on each hole, whether it's a draw or a fade."
Spieth turned in one of the best performances of the day Friday even without total confidence with his driver, so if he can make some progress in that area Saturday and Sunday, there is room to post even better scores and make a run at the victory.
Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
