Jordan Spieth in contention heading into AT&T Byron Nelson’s weekend despite uncharacteristic putts

MCKINNEY, Texas — He may no longer be at the tip top of the leaderboard, but Jordan Spieth still finds himself in unfamiliar territory when it comes to his 10-year Byron Nelson career: in contention.

Spieth has never finished better than a tie for 16th in the Nelson, an event he’s played more than any other on Tour. That 16th-place finish came when he was a 16year-old high school student. There are only three events on the PGA Tour calendar that Spieth has played more than two times and never finished in the top 10 — the Nelson, the WGC-Workday Championship (seven starts) and the Farmers Insurance Open (six).

Spieth entered Friday’s second round in a tie for first place, and got a chance to build on that lead bright and early in the morning. He was among one of the first groups of the day to tee off at 7:23.

It never really clicked for Spieth, though, who bogeyed the opening hole after a blemish-free opening round on Thursday. The opening-hole bogey ended up being his only bogey of Friday’s round. But birdies ended up being a rarity, too, thanks to some uncharacteristically poor putting. Spieth ended up posting a -2 round of 70 and trails leader Sam Burns by six shots entering the weekend.

“I had plenty of looks,” Spieth said. “I didn’t make many putts at all today.”

After making every putt inside of eight feet on Thursday, Spieth missed three separate putts inside of six feet during Friday’s front nine, including a 5-footer for par on the opening hole and birdie attempts at the par 5s on No. 12 (5 ft, 1 in) and No. 18 (4 ft, 7 in).

Spieth spent a considerable amount of time on the practice green following his round.

After playing the par 5s at -5 on Thursday, Spieth was only -1 on Friday, with the lone birdie coming on the final hole of the day.

Thursday’s opening round was the first time Spieth had walked 18 holes since the final round of the Masters, thanks to a COVID-19 diagnosis the week after the Masters. He said after Thursday that he could feel it in his legs, but he was quick to point out after Friday’s round that he wouldn’t be pointing to that as a reason for Friday’s trip down the leaderboard.

“I’m young enough there shouldn’t be any excuses,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”