Jordan Spieth Drops Out of Masters 2018 Lead After Shooting 2-Over in Round 2

Jordan Spieth dropped out of the lead in the 2018 Masters Tournament after shooting a two-over 74 in Friday's second round at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.

Spieth stands at four under overall, which left him two strokes off the lead pace being set by Patrick Reed with the afternoon wave of play ongoing when he walked off the course.

The 2015 Masters champion finished the round with two birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey.

Spieth owned a two-shot lead over the field after the opening round thanks to a blistering 66 that included five consecutive birdies during the back nine.

It only took two holes to see the 24-year-old Dallas native wasn't going to match that terrific effort. He started Round 2 with a double bogey on No. 1 and a bogey on the par-five second.

ESPN Stats & Info noted the significance of his slow start:

Spieth carded another bogey on the seventh as part of a birdie-less front nine.

The three-time major champion finally began to pick up a little steam with his first birdie of the day on the 13th. He added another on the 15th to take advantage of both par fives on the back side, which is one of the biggest keys to winning at Augusta.

CBS Sports highlighted his nice mid-range putt on No. 15:

He finished the day with three straight pars, missing a makable birdie putt on the closing hole.

All told, the round could have gotten away from Spieth after the sluggish start, but he rebounded to salvage the day and keep himself firmly in contention heading into the weekend. That's the benefit of his playing so well Thursday: It created a little more margin for error.

The biggest key over the final 36 holes will be limiting mistakes. He's posted six bogeys or worse so far and is still right near the top of the leaderboard. If he can turn some of those mistakes into par saves, he'll be tough to beat in the season's first major.