Jordan Spieth at Tour Championship 2016: Thursday Leaderboard Score, Reaction

Jordan Spieth kept himself in the running at the Tour Championship on Thursday, shooting a two-under 68 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. 

That left Spieth two strokes behind co-leaders Hideki Matsuyama and Kevin Chappell at the time his round ended.

It wasn't the superstar's steadiest round of golf, however. In fact, his start was dreadful, as he bogeyed the first hole and double-bogeyed the second.

He managed to recover quickly, though, with birdies on Nos. 3, 4 and 6 to bring himself back to even par. He then parred the next six holes, including this highlight-reel shot on No. 9, via the PGA Tour:

But the consistency ran out on No. 14, where he earned another bogey. Spieth closed his round in style, however, with pars on the next two holes before making birdies on Nos. 17 and 18.

It wasn't Spieth at his best, as his stats from the round showed, per the PGA Tour:

Nonetheless, Ben Coley of Sporting Life was impressed with Spieth's effort:

Spieth seems comfortable putting at East Lake.

"From 20-plus feet, I can roll them in on these greens," he said after the round, per golf writer John Strege. "I feel very comfortable doing so."

His putter was the key.

"It was an off day [ball-striking], and I saved it with the putter, kind of something that seems to be too common with me," Spieth acknowledged, per Randall Mell of Golf Channel.

The FedEx Cup and its $10 million prize are at stake in Atlanta, though Spieth will need a bit of help even if he wins the Tour Championship.

As Kyle Porter of CBS Sports explained, "[Dustin] Johnson would have to finish in a three-way tie for second or worse and [Patrick] Reed would need to finish tied for second or worse for Spieth to take home the bonus money."

Spieth came into the tournament seventh in the FedEx Cup standings.

Spieth has his work cut out for him, but it must be a scary thought for the rest of the field that he could play so inconsistently and still finish with a 68. His ability to cover up his mistakes with his incredible putting could play a major role in this tournament and help him secure his second consecutive FedEx Cup title.

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