Spieth shakes off bad start
FORT WORTH, Texas — Jordan Spieth normally doesn’t concern himself with the cut line in the middle of a round.
Things change when the Dallas native is in danger of getting left out of consecutive weekends at what amount to his hometown events.
Spieth recovered from a bad start by going 5 under over his final 13 holes at Colonial Country Club on Friday, and his 2-under-par 68 in the Dean & DeLuca Invitational put the tournament’s 2016 champion at 2-under 138, well out of danger. He was four shots behind second-round leaders Kevin Kisner, Danny Lee, Scott Piercy and Webb Simpson.
Spieth missed cuts in his past two tournaments, including last weekend’s AT&T Byron Nelson in the Dallas area.
“That would have been really, really tough for me to swallow if I missed the cut (Friday),” Spieth said. “And it was in my head.”
Lee birdied the last hole for a 64, the low round of the tournament on a hot and windy day. Kisner also had a birdie on his final hole, the ninth, for a second straight 67. Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champion, and Piercy each shot a 66 to join the group at 6-under 134.
Another stroke back were Paul Casey (66), Sergio Garcia (66), Sean O’Hair (68) and Jon Rahm (69).
Spieth said the key to his recovery was a short bogey putt at 14, his fifth hole, that dropped him to 3 over after he opened with a par 70. The 23-yearold broke from his recent routine by seeking caddie Michael Greller’s input on the four-footer.
“He said, ‘Hit this one with confidence and walk it in,’” Spieth said about his third bogey in the first five holes. “I stepped and walked it in. I think it was kind of shocking because it was a bogey putt to go 3 over. No one really walks those in. But it was exactly what I needed.”
Spieth immediately followed with a 35-foot birdie putt at No. 15, then had four birdies in the first five holes of Colonial’s front nine.
Langer still leads
STERLING, Va. — Bernhard Langer made five straight birdies after the wind died down on a punishing day at Trump National, regaining the lead at the Senior PGA Championship as darkness fell.
Langer was 11 under through 13 holes in the second round when play was stopped. He was one shot ahead of Vijay Singh, who shot a 68 amid wind measured at more than 30 mph, while Billy Andrade was 9 under after a 68.
The wind was so strong, play was temporarily halted and whitecaps formed on the muddy Potomac River. Singh and Andrade were eight shots better than the field average.
When play resumed after the delay, Langer grinded out three straight pars in the teeth of the wind before starting his birdie run.
Trio on top
VIRGINIA WATER, England — Scott Jamieson, Francesco Molinari and Thomas Pieters shared the lead halfway through the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club.
The trio were 7 under overall, one shot ahead of Max Kieffer (68).
Pieters’ 3-under 69 set the target for Friday’s late starters. Molinari dropped two shots on his opening nine, but he roared back into contention with three birdies in the closing six holes for a 70. Jamieson (70) dropped three shots in his first three holes to fall five off the lead, but a run of six birdies in seven holes around the turn helped him surge back up the leaderboard.
Two shots behind the leaders were Byeong-hun An (69), first-round leader Johan Carlsson (73), Branden Grace (71), Henrik Stenson (71) and Lee Westwood (69).
Park up by two
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Sung Hyun Park shot a 7-under 65 to take a twostroke lead after the second round of the LPGA Volvik Championship.
Park was at 12 under, with Minjee Lee (66) and Suzann Pettersen (67) tied for second. At 9 under was Lizette Salas, the only other player to shoot a 65 Friday at Travis Pointe Country Club.
First-round leaders Stacy Lewis and WeiLing Hsu each shot a 72 and trailed Park by five strokes.